In 1922, buoyed by the continued growth of the Catholic population in Rhode Island and with a deep conviction for the value of Catholic education, Bishop William Hickey started a campaign to raise funds for the construction of two new Catholic high schools, one in Pawtucket and the other in Newport.
By 1924, Bishop Hickey had raised the required funds and worked with the De La Salle Christian Brothers to open the two new secondary schools for boys.
The Pawtucket high school was to be located in a large Federal-style mansion on Walcott Street that had been purchased from the prestigious Goff family for $95,000. An additional $60,000 was required to transform the residential building into appropriate classroom, library and science lab space.
When Brother Anselm Moore, F.S.C. arrived in Pawtucket in late August 1924, work was just beginning on the transformation. Brother Anselm worked 12-hour days for weeks overseeing the construction and enrolling students.
On September 10, 1924, the new Catholic high school on Walcott Street opened with 59 students, three faculty members and an athletic director. The students adjusted well to the new school, excelling in academics and athletics.
Seventeen pastors, representing the parishes which had enrolled students at the new high school, met with Bishop Hickey on December 12, 1924 and agreed that its name should be Saint Raphael Academy, in honor of St. Raphael the Archangel, the patron saint of youth.
It did not take long for the Academy to outgrow its facilities. Without a gymnasium or proper cafeteria space and faced with an overwhelming number of applications for admission, Brother Ambrose, who served as Principal from 1926 to 1932, met with Bishop Hickey and in 1927 signed a contract for the construction of a new school building.
On January 1, 1929 the “new Saint Raphael Academy” was opened, featuring a gymnasium, six classrooms, science lab, cafeteria, athletic locker rooms and Principal’s office. In March, nearly 1000 people joined Bishop Hickey at the dedication of the new building, the enrollment of which was now 160 boys and eight faculty members.
From the 1930′s through the 1960′s, the Academy continued to grow and prosper. SAINTS students enjoyed success in academics, athletics and drama. By the 1970′s, however, the enrollment at Catholic high schools throughout the region had begun to decline and the condition of the Academy’s facilities had deteriorated, forcing the tuition to rise.
In September 1974 Brother Jerome Corrigan, F.S.C., Principal, accepted 112 young women from St. Jean Baptiste Academy in Pawtucket, which had closed that summer. To accommodate the added enrollment, Brother Jerome arranged a lease agreement for the use of the former St. Joseph’s School on Walcott St., now known as the East Building. This coeducational Saint Raphael Academy now had an enrollment of 550 students.
Enrollment continued to grow throughout the 1970′s, exceeding 700 students by the mid-1980′s. The large number of students, along with the lack of space for computers and the arts, led Brother William Kemmerer, F.S.C., Principal, to launch the Academy’s first capital campaign. Money was raised to fund the construction of an annex to the West Building and in 1986 Barbara Farley Hall opened with a computer lab, art room, music room, a classroom and new athletic facilities in the basement.
Ten years later, with tuition rising and a slight decline in enrollment, Brother Thomas Casey, F.S.C., Principal, with the Academy’s School Board, determined that building an endowment fund for tuition assistance, funding new technology initiatives and constructing new science labs needed to be an immediate priority to ensure the Academy’s long-term survival.
The generosity of more than two hundred SAINTS alumni helped the Academy to raise over $5,000,000 in pledges during its Creating A Future capital campaign. This infusion of much needed capital gave SAINTS the opportunity to increase its technological capabilities greatly, to offer additional tuition assistance to families and reconstruct the science labs. Additionally, this campaign allowed the Academy to create the Healey Library Media Center, purchase 38 Maynard St. and therein create new administrative offices, purchase the former St. Joseph’s School and landscape the West Campus.
In 2005 another capital campaign, The Time Is Now, was initiated under the direction of Brother Daniel Aubin, F.S.C., President, in order to replace our athletic facilities and provide space for the performing arts. In September 2007, Bishop Thomas Tobin dedicated our new 30,000 sq. ft. Athletic and Wellness Center, named Alumni Hall.
In August of 2010, Bishop Thomas Tobin appointed the 37th Chief Administrator of Saint Raphael Academy. Mrs. Maryann Donohue-Lynch, who currently serves as the first President-Principal and the first female Chief Administrator in Saint Ray’s history.
July 1, 2012, Bishop Thomas Tobin appointed the 38th Chief Administrator of Saint Raphael Academy, Mr. Daniel J, Richard,
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