An all-girls Hendricken?

John Howell
Posted 9/24/15

Ever since it was founded in 1959 with 350 students, Bishop Hendricken High School has been an all-boys school. Now, the school is exploring the possibility of extending the “Hendricken …

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An all-girls Hendricken?

Posted

Ever since it was founded in 1959 with 350 students, Bishop Hendricken High School has been an all-boys school. Now, the school is exploring the possibility of extending the “Hendricken experience” to girls.

Hendricken students, however, needn’t worry, or perhaps hope, to share classrooms with the fairer sex. The school is commissioning a survey for the viability and support of an all-girls Hendricken school. And, if that were to happen, the school could be as close as the Aldrich Estate on Warwick Neck, which was once used as the Hendricken senior campus.

Hendricken President John Jackson said Tuesday the Warwick Neck site came to mind after Overbrook Academy, a 150-girl boarding school operated by Consecrated Women of Regnum Chrisi, relocated this spring to Greenville. Overbrook occupied what was originally Our Lady of Providence Seminary at the estate.

“We’re taking one step at a time,” Jackson said of the concept of a girls’ Hendricken. He said the diocese granted approval for the school to conduct a survey, which will be done by the RDW Group, “to gauge the level of interest of opening an all-girls school at a different location.”

If the school was to get a green light from the diocese, Jackson imagines starting with a freshman class of 100 and a sophomore class of 50 as soon as the 2017-18 academic year.

But it’s far from being a reality.

“It’s still very exploratory,” said Daniel J. Ferris, superintendent of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence schools. “Is there a need and interest in a Hendricken girls’ education in Warwick?”

While the former Overbrook Academy has been suggested as a site, Ferris said that property is secondary to the discussion.

“The property will take care of itself,” he said. He explained the principal consideration is whether there is the interest and the volume of students to support the school. Ferris noted the state’s declining school-aged population.

The diocese also oversees Prout School in Wakefield and St. Raphael Academy in Pawtucket. Ferris is highly complimentary of Hendricken.

“I applaud Hendricken for looking to the future,” he said, “and of a clear vision of what they want to do in the future.”

The father of a Hendricken senior, Ferris is impressed by what he has seen.

“Their education of young men is second to none,” he said.

Jackson said news that the school is looking at the Aldrich Estate property has gotten out and that there has been some positive feedback from the community. But he also says a preliminary assessment of the former Overbrook Academy, much of it the same space used as a Hendricken senior campus from 1975 to 1992, has found the need for substantial upgrades.

“The roof is in tough shape,” he said.

In addition, Jackson said the building would need to meet fire codes, requiring the installation of sprinklers. The school would need to buy furniture and make other upgrades.

If Hendricken were to take on these costs, Jackson said the school would need to negotiate an agreement that the capital improvements could be written off by reductions in rent.

Ferris sees other opportunities for the property if it weren’t used for a school. He said the property could be used as a conference center and, as it has a dormitory, as a conference hotel. He agreed issues of the fire code and safety would need to be addressed.

Ferris said there is “no timetable” for the Hendricken proposal, reminding, “This is very exploratory.”

Comments

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  • falina

    Awesome!

    Thursday, September 24, 2015 Report this

  • gwsjr75

    This is a terrific idea.

    Thursday, September 24, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Best idea is many, many years!! Please send sentiments to Mr. Ferris.

    Thursday, September 24, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Um, aren't private catholic schools struggling? Didn't they close a couple of programs in Warwick and in other spots in the State? What a waste of money!

    Friday, September 25, 2015 Report this

  • TheSkipper

    Maybe they could take over Warwick Vets when it closes?

    Friday, September 25, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Skip, Vets is becoming the middle school. C'mon and get with the program and stop showing that you were educated in Warwick.

    Friday, September 25, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    idiot: Actually, Catholic high schools, and certainly Hendricken, are doing quite well. While a number of elementary schools have closed, enrollment at the high schools has remained strong. Where's the waste of money?

    Friday, September 25, 2015 Report this

  • allent

    Where will the kids come from. Certainly losing them in Warwick

    Friday, September 25, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Mr. Stark, if you don't build a base, your top will crumble. Unless you count on the ringers brought in to win glory on the sports fields.

    Saturday, September 26, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Still unclear: "waste of money"?

    Sunday, September 27, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Spend the money on younger kids so they will have a chance. By the time they get to high school, the die is cast. You want to save education, start early.

    Monday, September 28, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    idiot: WHO should spend WHAT money on WHICH kids, and for WHAT purpose? It appears you simply do not understand how tuition structures at Catholic schools, be they diocesan or private, work. And so I remain unclear: "waste of money"...how?

    Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Report this

  • georgecarver

    This is great news. Its effective for the kids and easy on the taxpayers... A great model indeed.

    Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Report this

  • ginaa

    My daughter is very excited if this happens. My son already attends Hendricken as a sophomore. They have a winning formula for educating all students. As they say, they enter as boys and graduate as men. If the school for the girls will be run in he same manner, I see success. My daughter now attends a private catholic school in east Greenwich and her only option at this point was Prout.

    Thursday, October 29, 2015 Report this