St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Dover)
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St. Thomas Aquinas High School is a co-educational Catholic high school in Dover, New Hampshire. It has a student population of approximately 700, and a faculty of 50.
In August of 1959, His Excellency Matthew F. Brady, Bishop of Manchester, opened the fund raising drive for St. Thomas Aquinas High School. When Bishop Brady suddenly died, Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston kept his last project alive. Cardinal Cushing greeted the new bishop, His Excellency Ernest J. Primeau, with the advice, "Go on with St. Thomas Aquinas."
The Diocesan co-educational school opened in 1960 with a freshman class only. Serving seventeen parishes in southeastern New Hampshire, the school was staffed by two Diocesan priests, seven School Sisters of Notre Dame and one layman. When STA graduated its class of 219 in 1964, the faculty had grown to six priests, twenty-one sisters (requiring a new convent) and four lay teachers.
By the late sixties, enrollment topped nine hundred students, making St. Thomas a Class L power in athletics. A nationwide trend toward declining enrollments, combined with the higher cost of salaries as the number of teaching sisters fell, brought St. Thomas through a series of challenges throughout the 1970’s.
Beginning in the mid-1980s through the 1990’s St. Thomas showed a steady and dramatic increase in enrollment. During this period the school enhanced and expanded the academic and extracurricular programs available to students. The convent, named Notre Dame Hall, was converted to provide additional classroom space and to house the Guidance Department, which includes offices, a library, and a conference area. Today the school is at its maximum enrollment. Admission has become competitive and many classes have waiting lists.
The school's sports teams compete as the "Saints," represented by a Saint Bernard mascot, currently animated by Sophie Kitridge -Class of 2010. Teams of note include: football, soccer, swimming and diving, hockey, basketball, lacrosse, wrestling, tennis, Track and baseball. Athletic alums include Jon Gaffney of York, Maine, 2002 New Hampshire State Wrestling Champion.
The school celebrated its 40th anniversary year in 2000. At this milestone, the school had achieved a solid reputation of excellence within the tri-state region of New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts.[1]
Among St. Thomas' graduates are Ron Fortier, comic book and pulp writer best known for his work on The Green Hornet, and Brendan Dubois, author of numerous novels including Resurrection Day.
Current Administrators:
Jeffrey Quinn - Principal
Gordon Quimby - Dean of Students
Ronald Holtz - Dean of Studies
Gary Finley II - Dean of Admissions
Department Heads:
Mrs. Kathleen Collins - English
Mr. Jason Strniste - Mathematics
Mr. Paul Bazylinski - History
Mr. Paul DiPietro - Religious Studies
Mr. Arthur LeClair - Science
Mrs. Gale LeClair - Guidance
Mrs. Mary Chamberlin - Foreign Languages
Mr. Daryl Robertson - Music
