St. Michael’s High School to graduate first class in more than 50 years
Members of the first class to graduate from the reopened St. Michael’s High School in Brattleboro will receive their diplomas Friday, June 14, at 6 p.m. in Rand Hall at the Walnut Street school that also houses St. Michael Elementary and Middle School.
The last class to graduate from St. Michael’s High School was the Class of 1968.
The high school reopened when members of the Class of 2019 were freshmen, with a grade added each year until all four high school grades were in place.
Six students will be graduating. The valedictorian is Lucy Duchaney and salutatorian is Matthew Jacques.
The commencement speaker will be the Rev. James Dodson who was pastor of St. Michael Parish when the high school reopened. He is now pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Northfield and assistant vocation director for the Diocese of Burlington.
“Families requested that we reinstate the high school as there is no other Catholic high school option in the southern part of Vermont or in neighboring towns in New Hampshire and Massachusetts,” said Principal Elaine Beam.
The high school serves the tristate area, offering a Classical liberal arts curriculum. It is accredited through The New England Association of Schools and Colleges Inc. and recognized by the State of Vermont as an approved independent school.
Of the six graduates, four will be attending college, one will be working with his family’s business and one is undecided.
This group of six graduates will be joining the St. Michael High School Alumni Association. “The association is still very active, and they will be introduced at the alumni reunion on June 15 at the American Legion,” Beam said.
The Alumni Association recently opened an endowment for the school with The Vermont Catholic Community Foundation.
The seniors will attend a convocation Mass on Thursday, June 13, at 5:15 at St. Michael Church; Msgr. John McDermott, vicar general of the Diocese of Burlington, will be the celebrant.
For more information call St. Michael School at 802-254-6320.