Former Stella Maris Renamed Sag Harbor Learning Center

SAG HARBOR, NY — A new day has dawned at the former Stella Maris Regional School.

On Jan. 28, the Sag Harbor school board voted unanimously to rename the facility the Sag Harbor Learning Center and to separately name its auditorium/gymnasium Sage Hall, the district said in a release.

The latter name is meant to recognize Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, a noted Sag Harbor benefactor who donated money and land in the early 1900s to establish Pierson Middle and High Schools and Mashashimuet Park, the district said.

Sag Harbor Union Free School District Superintendent Katy Graves said she is pleased with the new names and to honor the longtime benefactor. “This vision of the building that now belongs to the district and to the community is starting to take shape," she said.

The school building, located on Division St. in Sag Harbor, was purchased by the school district in 2016 from St. Andrew Catholic Church. At the time, voters passed a proposition to purchase the former Stella Maris School and and to construct various improvements, for an amount not to exceed $10,233,500.

Renovations of the Sag Harbor Learning Center are expected to be completed in 2019. A major focus of the work is to bring the school up to New York state’s standards for daycare and pre-kindergarten, district officials said.

Patch file photo.