Aquinas High School was a 9-12 all-girls, private,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in the Belmont section of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York, United States. It was located within the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encom ...

. The building now houses Cardinal Mccloskey Community Charter Elementary School.

Background

In the late nineteenth century the

Dominican Sisters of Sparkill The Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary, better known as the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, is an institute of religious sisters of the Third Order of Saint Dominic based in Sparkill, New York, which was founded in 1876. The congregat ...

purchased the Frederick Grote estate, which consisted of an entire city block from East 182 Street to East 183 Street. Frederick Grote was a partner in the firm "F. Grote & Co.", manufacturers of ivory goods. The business was located on 14th Street in Manhattan. Mr. Grote died October 22, 1886.''The American Stationer'', Vol. 23, Howard Lockwood, 1888, p. 252
/ref> In 1900, a day school was established in the three-story frame servants' house for children of the Parish of St. Martin of Tours. It was called St. Martin's Academy and only served grades 1–6. As enrollment increased, the academy was moved to the brick Victorian Grote mansion. When the parish decided to establish a parochial school, in 1923, the sisters converted the academy into "Aquinas Hall", a two-year business school for young women. A second building was added in 1929. In the mid-1930s, it was determined that the students would be better served by a four year high school curriculum. A 4-year high school was established in 1939. On September 11, 2002, First Lady Laura Bush visited Aquinas High School. In June 2020, the school announced that it would close following the 2020–2021 school year due to declining enrollment. While originally designed for 800 students, there were only 200 at the time the closing was announced. On June 10, 2021, Aquinas graduated its final class. The building is now home to Cardinal Mccloskey Community Charter School. It is an elementary school, serving members of the community

Notable alumni

* April Lee Hernández, actress *

Debbi Morgan Deborah Ann Morgan (born September 20, 1956) is an American film and television actress. She played the role of Angie Baxter–Hubbard on the ABC soap opera ''All My Children'' for which she was the first African-American to win the Daytime Em ...

, actress * Julissa Reynoso, former United States Ambassador to Uruguay *

Judy Torres Judy Torres (born June 13, 1968 in The Bronx, New York City) is an American freestyle music artist and dance-pop singer. Early life and career Growing up in the Bronx, Torres was the oldest of five siblings. She attended St. Thomas Aquinas, a ...

, freestyle music artist and dance-pop singer

References

External links

* {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1923 Girls' schools in New York City 1923 establishments in New York City Dominican schools in the United States Belmont, Bronx Roman Catholic high schools in the Bronx