Central Catholic was founded 1934 by Archbishop Edward Howard as a diocesan high school for boys. In 1930, St. Mary's Cemetery was closed and the interments were relocated, mostly to Mount Calvary, and Central Catholic High School was built on the site of the old cemetery. During the Great Depression, Central Catholic High School faced significant challenges in securing funding to build the high school. However, Archbishop Howard visited all of the Portland parishes to raise funding, and a carnival benefit was held to raise more; moreover, in 1938, a generous bequest of $20,000 was left to the school by Susan Kratz, providing the necessary resources for the project to move forward and making it possible to open the school in 1939.[7] It was dedicated on May 9, 1939, and opened with about 125 freshman and sophomore students. The first principal was Father Francis Schaefers.
Initially the school operated on a pay-as-you-go basis, meeting its expenses with its tuition, which was $50 a year. Overhead was low because many classes were taught by the diocesan priests, who did not take salaries, and by sisters from different congregations, who were paid $50 a month.[8]
Central Catholic became a co-ed high school in the 1980s. It accepted the first co-ed students as freshmen and sophomores for the 1980–81 school year. The first co-ed class graduated in 1983.
As part of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company received between $2 million and $5 million in federally backed small business loan from Customers Bank as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. The company stated it would allow them to retain 143 jobs.[9]
^Pereyr, Lillian (January 26, 1996). "History". Catholic Sentinel (reprinted on Central Catholic website). Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
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