Two Catholic parishes in Wilmington, North Carolina, are partnering to launch the city's only Catholic high school this fall.
St. Mark Catholic Church and School and the Basilica of St. Mary Catholic Church and School are launching Fr. Thomas F. Price Catholic High School, which would be the only Catholic high school in the area.
The school is named for Father Thomas Frederick Price, a Wilmington native born in 1860 who co-founded the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America — known today as the Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers. He was baptized at the old St. Thomas Church, now called Preservation Hall, just blocks from the planned campus.
Principal Dennis Fleck told Port City Daily in an April 13 interview that efforts are underway to advance Price’s cause for sainthood. The Diocese of Raleigh opened his cause for canonization in 2012 with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, gathering testimony and reviewing his writings before sending the documentation to the Vatican in 2018, where the process is ongoing.
“I think it's kind of appropriate that you know that we're so close in proximity to where he grew up,” Fleck said.
Fleck came out of retirement to lead the school. He previously served as assistant principal and dean of students at St. Mark, and his 45 years in education include stints as a teacher, coach, athletic director, and interim principal at Eugene Ashley High School in Wilmington.
The school will initially serve freshmen, with possible expansion to sophomores, and aims to enroll 20 to 25 students in its first class, with room to grow as the program expands. As of mid-April, two students are enrolled, two are in the application process, and two more are prospective, Fleck said.
Plans call for the school to operate initially out of refurbished classrooms in a historic building on the basilica’s grounds, with access to existing facilities, which include a gymnasium and science labs. Organizers said they may eventually seek to purchase land and build a standalone campus.
The curriculum will include core academic subjects, along with theology and Latin. Fleck said the school hopes to offer Advanced Placement courses and dual enrollment opportunities with Cape Fear Academy and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The school also plans to offer extracurricular activities and athletics based on student interest.
Tuition for the first academic year is set at $10,000, with financial aid options available, including North Carolina Opportunity Scholarships, which provides money to families for private school tuition on a sliding scale based on need, according to Port City Daily’s report.
Applications are open on a rolling basis ahead of the school’s planned launch. More information is available at the school's website.