SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS HIGH SCHOOL

A Tangipahoa Treasure — Dedicated to Building Future Stewards.

Written by Betsy O’Leary

Photos by Johnny Chauvin

A recent conversation with St. Thomas Aquinas principal, Will Johnson, revealed exciting changes ahead for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. This fall STA is proud to announce they will open their doors to their first full class of eighth graders, an idea that has been discussed for nearly two decades.

While Mr. Johnson is currently the principal, his journey to that position started in 1991 when a young Will Johnson was enrolled as a ninth grader. As an alumnus of the class of 1995, a teacher at STA for a number of years, and now as an administrator, Mr. Johnson has had a front row seat for many of the seminal events in STA’s nearly 40-year history.

Over the years STA has grown to have students from all over Tangipahoa Parish as well as students from neighboring parishes. But at its genesis

St. Thomas Aquinas is a product of several committed families from the greater Hammond area who saw a need for a contiguous K-12 Catholic school educational option in Tangipahoa Parish, and then worked tirelessly to make STA a reality. Now, with the addition of the eighth grade, STA is proudly building upon the legacy and tradition that began over 40 years ago and is preparing for the next 40 years of providing Catholic education to the Tangipahoa community.

When asked about what makes St. Thomas Aquinas special, Mr. Johnson said without hesitation that “the strong Catholic foundation that permeates every aspect of the school is STA’s greatest strength. Our students’ tremendous accomplishments academically, athletically, and within the community are a testament to the power of our school’s mission and vision.”

With academic options that will allow eighth graders to earn up to six high school credits as well as STA’s upperclassmen having the opportunity to earn numerous dual enrollment and AP credits, St. Thomas Aquinas offers rigorous academic options that will allow many students to earn college credits well before they ever step on a college campus. Mr. Johnson is proud that STA truly serves the students of the entire community as there are students from nearly every private and public school in our community enrolled at St. Thomas – creating a truly diverse and exciting educational environment.

“The strength of STA’s support network is our superpower. Selfless family volunteers constantly ask the administration, ‘What can we do?’ Without that support, and symbiotic relationship between students’ families and STA, the school wouldn’t be able to serve the community at its present high level.”

-Will Johnson

Another characteristic that makes STA so unique is how its alumni return to teach, coach, and support the school. The principal laughed and said it makes him “feel old” seeing former students return to teach and coach. With basketball coaches Raymone Andrews

(2009) and Amber Donnes (2013); English teacher Madison Chauvin Henderson (2014); Athletic Director Josh Wittie (2000); and Admission Director/Teacher Courtney Day Silewicz (1998) on campus, STA alumni are making an impact on campus every single day.

Johnson said that for STA, “its not enough to be good enough.” Rather, St. Thomas Aquinas is always looking for ways to improve and increase its value to the students and the Tangipahoa Parish community as a whole. As principal, Mr. Johnson feels it is his responsibility to be a good steward of STA’s resources to ensure STA continues to live up to the high standards established when the school opened in 1986. And, Johnson says, “I hope Sr. Philip (his principal) is looking down on our school thinking, ‘I didn’t see this coming, but I like what I see.”