PAWTUCKET — This summer Bishop Francis P. Keough Regional High School, an all-girls independent Catholic secondary school in Pawtucket, will leave its location at St. Maria Goretti Parish after 44 years and move to St. Raphael Academy. The Administration and Board of Bishop Keough have sought a partnership with Saint Raphael Academy to bring academic programing, administrative personnel and a welcoming transition to Bishop Keough students who wish to transfer.
“Keough High School has educated and served more than 1,500 young women in its 40 year history,” said Principal Jeanne Leclerc. “We are truly proud that we have fulfilled our mission in a very honorable and successful way. To all our graduates and current students, we wish them well.”
The faculty and staff of Saint Raphael Academy look forward to the benefits of the partnership with Bishop Keough students transitioning to St. Ray’s. Principal Daniel J. Richard remarked, “I am very pleased to welcome the young ladies to Saint Raphael Academy and, as a community, we anxiously await their arrival at the end of August.”
Currently there are 40 girls enrolled at Bishop Keough for the coming academic year. Bishop Keough students will also have the opportunity to seek admission at other Catholic high schools in the diocese.
Bishop Keough High School, named after the fourth bishop of Providence, opened its doors in 1971 by a group of laymen and laywomen with the late Charles H. Deblois as its founder. Bishop Keough High School flourished with the financial support of several parishes and a staff of religious and lay teachers. In the 1970s, when many Catholic schools became coed, Bishop Keough resolved to maintain its all-girls status continuing the school’s approach to developing their leadership skills and self-confidence.
Saint Raphael Academy, less than four miles away from Bishop Keough High School, is a coed college preparatory school founded in 1924 in the tradition of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. The Pawtucket school is owned by the Diocese of Providence.
For more information about the transition, contact Ms. Susan Mansfield at Bishop Keough High School at 401-487-5824, or St. Raphael Academy Principal Daniel Richard at 401-723-8100.
