Central Catholic was founded by Brother Florentius and the Marist Brothers of the Schools in 1939, to provide boys from Lawrence and vicinity the previously unavailable opportunity to receive a Catholic high school education. [click the images to read our history]

			BROTHER FLORENTIUS AND THE FOUNDING OF CENTRAL CATHOLIC The early history of Central Catholic High School largely revolves around the extraordinary person of its founder, Brother Florentius. Brother Florentius was a native of Lawrence, Massachusetts and a member of the Marist Brothers of the Schools, a Roman Catholic congregation of vowed teaching brothers. After founding Mount Saint Michael Academy, Bronx, New York in 1926 and serving as the Director there until 1932, Brother Florentius was assigned to St. Anne's School in Lawrence as principal. Upon his return to Lawrence he was immediately preoccupied by the reality that the city offered no opportunity for boys to receive a Catholic high school education.While devoting himself to his duties as a grade school principal, Brother Florentius met with city leaders to enlist their support for a Catholic high school for boys that would accept students graduating from the various parochial and public grade schools. Many stepped forward to assist Brother Florentius; the pastors of the Lawrence Catholic churches were unanimous in their support.
			THE FIRST CLASS OF CENTRAL CATHOLIC Having received permission from Cardinal O'Connell, in July of 1935 Brother Florentius announced in all the Churches of Lawrence that Central Catholic High School would open two months later. At the time of this announcement Brother Florentius possessed neither furniture, textbooks, equipment, educational supplies and materials, nor a building. On September 16, 1935 fifty boys joined Brother Florentius and the founding Marist Brothers in the Shrine Chapel of Saint Mary's Church for the first school liturgy of the newly established Central Catholic High School. The new school was placed under the patronage of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus. Following Mass, students and Brothers walked to the Knights of Columbus Building on Haverhill Street (across from the Lawrence Common) for the first session of classes.
			EARLY EXPANSION AND GROWTH From its inception, the success of the school resulted in large measure from the encouragement and cooperation of members of city government, the support of local business, and the help of area pastors. From 1935-1938 the school rapidly outgrew its small quarters in the Knights of Columbus Building and expanded into borrowed space in three additional scattered sites: Holy Trinity School, the Franklin Street School, and the Hampshire Street School.
			A PERMANENT HOME Brother Florentius died suddenly on May 1, 1938. He was sadly missed the following month when, on June 10, ground was broken for the first permanent quarters of Central Catholic High School. The school was constructed at 99 Auburn Street on land purchased from the Essex County Commisioners. The original structure, designed to accommodate a student body of three hundred, consisted of eight classrooms, a library, cafeteria, and science laboratory. In addition, residence quarters for the teaching staff of fifteen Marist Brothers occupied the upper floor. The solemn dedication of the completed building was held on Sunday, December 11, 1938.