School History
St. Paschal Baylon School first opened its doors in September 1963, with an enrollment of 286 students in grades 1-6. The teaching staff consisted of four Sisters of Notre Dame and two lay teachers.
In 1966, a second building was erected, and another class was added to grades 1-4 each year until 1970. At that time, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles directed all schools to eliminate the second class of each grade, in order to curb rising school administration costs. As classes were eliminated at SPBS, classrooms were converted into accelerated and resource classrooms, a school library, and a music/extended care room.
A computer lab was built, and it opened in the fall of 1989. A kindergarten classroom and new faculty lounge were added in the fall of 1993. In 1997, after 35 years of service, the Sisters of Notre Dame withdrew as an order from administering SPBS, due to a shortage of vocations.
SPBS continues to be a Catholic parochial school, whose Catholic lay Principal, Mrs. Suzanne Duffy, has now served as Principal for 15 years. Accelerated classes for grades 6-8 were implemented in the fall of 1997. The Jr. High science lab was added in the fall of 1998 as part of the renovation and remodeling of the “upper building”. Air conditioning was also installed in all of the classrooms at that time. During the summer of 2000, the patio/lunch area was re-built: a new patio cover was installed and new concrete was poured between the school buildings. The Health Room was completely renovated during the summer of 2001, and is now also an office and work/copy room. A new P.E. equipment shed was installed near the sports field, in May of 2004. During the summer of 2004 the lower grades’ building was completely renovated: the last remaining asbestos was removed; the bathrooms were renovated; and a room was built for small-group student instruction. During the summer of 2005, the SPB hall floor was retrofitted with new state-of-the-art athletic flooring. A new upgraded surround-sound system was also installed, for use with our school and parish fine arts productions held in the hall. Summer 2006 saw the complete renovation of the SPBS library, with the addition of new technology and computers for students; and bookshelves, to accommodate our growing book inventory, along with new carpet. During the summer of 2007, we added a much needed Art/Storage Room to SPBS. During the summer of 2009, we upgraded counter tops in the media rooms and installed new carpet in the upper building, and during the past summer of 2010 we refurbished/repainted the large patio roof; added new carpet to the computer lab; and continued to install Smartboards and digital technology in the classrooms. In 2011, 21 new iMac computers were purchased for the computer lab and 10 additional wireless laptops were added for classroom use. The Kindergarten received new flooring. In addition, new textbooks were purchased for grades 4-8 in Math, Science, Spanish and Language Arts.
There are approximately 335 students currently enrolled in SPBS, with a faculty and staff of 35 for the 2011-2012 school year. This is the 49th year St. Paschal Baylon School has been providing excellence in Catholic education to Catholic students in the Conejo Valley!
Ms. Jean Alden celebrates 50 Years as a Catholic Educator: 2011
Former SPBS Volunteer
SPBS Classroom in the 1960's
Brandon and Chris Leslie - SPBS Alumni
Mrs. Duffy, Principal, with 3 SPBS Alumnae, "The Schwartz Sisters"
