About St. Thomas More School

ABOUT US

St. Thomas More School is on Thomas More Way in the southwest corner of San Francisco. The school is bound by Brotherhood Way across from the Park Merced Apartments and San Francisco State University on the north, Lake Merced on the west, the San Francisco Golf Club on the south and the Junipero Serra (280) freeway on the east. Brotherhood Way is dedicated to private, religious schools and places of worship. Of the four religious schools on Brotherhood Way, St. Thomas More, the largest, is the Catholic School.

The Reverend John Scanlan built the school while he served as the first pastor (1950-54) of St. Thomas More Parish. In 1954, Monsignor Vincent Carroll succeeded Fr. Scanlan, who had just been named Bishop of Hawaii. Msgr. Carroll, who served as pastor from 1954 until 1985, oversaw the opening of the school in 1954 with grades one through four. A grade was added each year until the full complement of eight grades was reached in 1958. The first graduation was in June of 1959. A half day kindergarten program was added to the school in September 1980. That program became a full day program in September 1986.

The school was staffed by Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) from its opening until 1980. At that time a Sister of the Notre Dame de Namur assumed the principalship for five years. At the start of the 1986-87 school year, Joe Elsbernd, a native San Franciscan and product of BVM education, was named principal by Fr. John Ring. Fr. Ring succeeded Msgr. Carroll and served as the third pastor of the parish until 1993. With Mr. Elsbernd, the BVM sisters returned filling roles in the parish and the school. Sr. Patricia Rogers, BVM has served as vice-principal at the school since 1986.

Under Archbishop John Quinn and as part of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan announced in 1993, St. Thomas More Parish was surpressed, closing in June of 1994. Fr. Don D'Angelo served as the last pastor of the parish from early 1993 until its closure. The pastoral care of the students at St. Thomas More was assigned to the staff of St. Stephen's Parish.

Archbishop William Levada, who succeeded Archbishop Quinn in 1995, reopened St. Thomas More Church in 1996 as a campus ministry center for San Francisco State University and to assume the pastoral responsibility for St. Thomas More School. Fr. Jerome Foley was then named as campus minister and head of the pastoral center of St. Thomas More Church. In 1998, Archbishop Levada announced that he was raising the status of St. Thomas More to a University Parish.

On Ash Wednesday, February 13th, 2002, Bishop Wester called and announced that the school would no longer be under the authority of Fr. Foley, pastor at St. Thomas More, but was again becoming an Archdiocesan School.

On June 3rd, 2002, it was announced that a new pastor would replace Fr. Foley as of July 1st. Monsignor Labib Kobti was welcomed as pastor of STM Church at that time. Monsignor Labib will continue his ministry to Arab- American Catholics in Northern California.

While the school remains an Archdiocesan rather than parish school, the leadership of the school and parish work comfortably together as partners in faith.

On Sunday, September 14th, 2008, a recently completed addition to the school was dedicated. This project includes a regulation size high school gymnasium, a new pre-kindergarten facility, a permanent location for our kindergarten (replacing the portable classrooms now housing that grade), a science classroom/lab and a large library and media center. Eventually we will have a fully fitted kitchen, a performance stage and a large multipurpose meeting area for use by the school, the Archdiocese, and the wider community.