Seventy years ago, in the fall of 1944, Msgr. Martin Cody Keating founded Bellarmine-Jefferson High School and the school opened its doors to its first 9th graders, who would then become its first graduating class of 1948. To commemorate its 70th year of dedication to meeting the spiritual, moral, ethical and educational needs of young men and women from across the San Fernando Valley and beyond, Bellarmine-Jefferson High School will celebrate in three distinct ways: with a rededication of the school, an all-year reunion and a special Mass presided by the Archbishop of Los Angeles.
The rededication will take place on Thursday, October 16, with a reception beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the school’s Library. At 5 p.m., community members from the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, along with Burbank Mayor Dr. David Gordon, will conduct a rededication on the front steps of the school, located at 465 E. Olive Avenue.
On Saturday, October 18, Bellarmine-Jefferson High School will host more than 200 alumni and special guests at an All-Year Reunion, beginning at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail hour and hors d’oeuvres, at the school in St. Eleanor Hall. There will be dinner, dancing, and live entertainment. The proceeds from the ticket sales will benefit the Bellarmine-Jefferson High School Adopt-A-Student Tuition Assistance Program. There will also be an auction to support the school’s new Ultimate Classroom Project for the development and renovation of the school’s current classrooms to state-of-the-art rooms designed to inspire creativity, imagination and innovation in its students.
Also at the reunion, Bellarmine-Jefferson High School will be surprising one of its alumni from the class of 1949 with an honorary diploma. Leo Lopez left school to join the service and did not get the opportunity to graduate with his class.
On Wednesday, October 22, at 9:30 a.m., Bellarmine-Jefferson High School will further commemorate its 70th Anniversary with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at St. Robert Bellarmine Church, located at 133 N. 5th Street in Burbank. The Mass will be presided by his Most Reverend José H. Gomez, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, as well as many area priests from Catholic parishes across Los Angeles.
For more information about any of these celebrations, please visit the school’s website at www.bell-jeff.net and click on the 70th Anniversary link.
