L-A's St. Dominic Academy gets $1M from anonymous donor
Courtesy / St. Dominic Academy
St. Dominic Academy, a private college preparatory school with campuses in Lewiston and Auburn, received an anonymous $1 million donation this week.
St. Dominic Academy, a private college preparatory school with campuses in Lewiston and Auburn, said Wednesday it had received $1 million from an anonymous donor, its largest gift in nearly two decades.
The school said it plans to use the unexpected funds to help local families finance a Catholic education for their children at St. Dominic, which teaches pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
"We are overwhelmed by the generous spirit of this donor and the confidence it shows in the academy,” Marianne Pelletier, the new Maine Catholic Schools superintendent, said in a news release.
No information about the donor's identity was available, but Pelletier said, “The donor is passionate about St. Dom’s, having observed the difference it makes in the lives of students and alumni. It is an exciting time both at the academy and in Catholic education, and a strong endowment helps us offer the St. Dom’s experience to those who wish to benefit from it.”
Bishop Robert P. Deeley expressed gratitude on behalf of the state's Catholic diocese, adding that the endowment "will help families send their children to a school with a long history of promoting academic excellence and service in the context of a faith-based education."
The announcement caps a busy month for the school.
Pelletier, the former principal of St. Dominic's Lewiston campus, was promoted to superintendent on June 11 and will work mainly out of the Auburn campus. On June 17, Roger LaChapelle was named interim principal of the Auburn campus for the 2019-20 school year.
In addition, the 2019 Dion Challenge raised over $320,000 for the academy after 1972 graduate Donald Dion Jr. challenged the St. Dom's community to raise funds to offer tuition assistance to local families with a $150,000 matching gift.
“This is a great time to be a part of this growing school community,” Pelletier said in Wednesday's news release. “Our parents, volunteers, students, alumni, faculty, staff, and benefactors joyfully invest in this institution, and we are dedicated to upholding the excellence that has defined St. Dom’s for nearly 80 years.”
A St. Dominic spokesperson told Mainebiz the school is currently interviewing candidates for the Lewiston campus principal job.
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