During the 1950’s Madison Township (now Old Bridge Township) and East Brunswick Township experienced a dramatic transformation from rural to suburban communities. Thousands of young families, many of which were Catholic, moved into the area from North Jersey and the New York metropolitan area. Many of the new Catholic families that settled in the Old Bridge area became members of Saint Thomas the Apostle Church and expressed a strong desire to have their children receive a Catholic education.
Father Walter French, then Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Church in Old Bridge, became committed to the establishment of an elementary school. In November 1957, he acquired 11.7 acres of land in Madison Township, to serve as the new location of a church, school and auditorium for Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish. In late January 1958, Father French received a verbal commitment from Mother M. Fidelis, Provincial Superior, that the Daughters of Divine Charity would take on the responsibility to staff a new elementary school in Old Bridge.
Construction of the new school began in July 1959. The Sisters arrived in late August of that year. The old parish hall in East Brunswick was renovated to house classrooms. The modest building served as the “first” Saint Thomas the Apostle School. Classes began on September 15, 1959 with 154 children comprising grades one, two and four. Sister Agnes served as principal and was assisted by Sisters Gerard and Dorothy. The Sisters lived temporarily in a farmhouse on Cottrell Road until October 1960 when Father French bought a new house on Barkley Road to serve as a convent. A year later, a second house was acquired next door to enable additional Sisters to serve the school.
After a series of delays and in spite of a heavy downpour, the new school, with 16 classrooms, opened on September 19, 1960, to accommodate 736 students in grades one through six. According to Sister Agnes, the students who transferred to the new school came from 27 different schools. At first, classes were held on Saturdays to make up for the days lost by the construction delay.
 
The school enrollment jumped to 920 students for the 1961-1962 School Year. The following year, the enrollment grew to 1170 students. During the 1962-63 School Year Saint Thomas the Apostle School rented four classrooms in the newly constructed St. Bartholomew School building in East Brunswick The new building was known as the St. Thomas School Annex and included 240 students. The first graduation of 8th grade students was held on June 16, 1963. The graduates were awarded diplomas signed by Bishop George W. Ahr, the Bishop of Trenton, Monsignor Thomas Frain, and the Diocesan Superintendent of Schools, Father French and Sister Agnes. The school enrollment reached its all-time peak the following year when 1270 students were enrolled.
The growing number of applicants for Saint Thomas the Apostle School began to decrease around 1965 since by that time a number of neighboring parishes established elementary schools. These included Immaculate Conception School, Spotswood, St. Bartholomew School, East Brunswick, Corpus Christi School, South River and Saint Ambrose School, Old Bridge. However, an additional 8-classroom addition for Saint Thomas the Apostle School was completed for the 1966-67 School Year.
 

Father Walter French







As the enrollment began to decline steadily throughout the 1970’s, a full-day kindergarten was begun in September 1976. The decline was affecting all Catholic schools for a number of reasons: tuition costs began to increase, public schools in the suburban communities were meriting improved reputations, class sizes in parochial schools was a concern to some parents and the attitudes of many Catholics about the importance of a Catholic school education had changed after Vatican 11. Another factor that contributed to the decline was the reduction of both men and women Religious who served as Catholic school teachers. The enrollment of Saint Thomas the Apostle School for the 1976-77 School Year reached 605 students.
In September 1989, Saint Thomas the Apostle School introduced a full-day pre-kindergarten program and an after-care program. These programs were introduced to provide an important service for working parents.
In May 1991, Sister Stephanie Szody, the Provincial Superior of the Daughters of Divine Charity, informed Monsignor John B. Szymanski, pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Church, that the Sisters, because of severe personnel shortages, were forced to withdraw from Saint Thomas the Apostle School, effective June 1991.
 
 
 
                                   Monsignor Szymanski


 
               Monsignor Behl
 
In June 1993, Saint Thomas the Apostle School graduated 42 students thus bringing the total of the school’s graduates since its establishment to more than 2000.
In April 1994, Saint Thomas the Apostle School received Middle States accreditation.
In August 2007, after 40 years of service to the Saint Thomas community, Monsignor Szymanski        retired. In November 2007, Monsignor Richard Behl was installed as the new pastor of Saint  Thomas the Apostle Church.
 

The Great Green Stamp Collection

 An endeavor that brought Saint Thomas the Apostle School national acclaim and publicity came to be known as “The Great Green Stamp Collection”. Sister Ignatius made a suggestion to Father French and the Saint Thomas P.T.A. – to acquire a school bus by collecting the green stamps, which at the time were being awarded by supermarkets, drug stores and other retail stores. The entire Old Bridge community supported the effort that began in May 1960. It took several months to acquire the 5,000,000 stamps needed to win the bus, which carried 66 passengers and was worth $8,000.
On Saturday, October 7, 1961, the new bus was presented to
Father French and Sister Agnes, our first principal, in the parish parking lot.