POTOSI — Sts. Andrew–Thomas School closed in May, but parochial education is not over in the Potosi/Tennyson area.
The Sts. Andrew–Thomas Foundation is holding an informational meeting on the new Sts. Andrew–Thomas Academy at the former Walsh Ac Hardware building in Tennyson, the site of the new school, Sunday at 9 a.m. A fundraiser will follow at Havey’s Bar in Tennyson.
The new Sts. Andrew–Thomas Academy will offer “a traditional five-day in-person educational program” partnering with Christus Vincit Academy, with a virtual homeschool program that will be part of the state Parent Choice Program, according to a foundation news release.
“We’ve come a long way in a very short time,” said Angie Pierce, vice president of the Sts. Andrew–Thomas Foundation board of directors. “Only a few months ago the diocesan leadership closed Sts. Andrew–Thomas Catholic School, which ended what was recognized as the longest-running continued Catholic education in Wisconsin.”
Rev. Stephen Brunner, pastor of a group of Catholic churches that includes St. Andrew in Tennyson and St. Thomas in Potosi, announced the closing of the school in March due to low enrollment and financial issues. An appeal to the Madison Catholic Diocese was denied.
Pierce said an appeal of the decision to the Vatican would have required “significant financial resources and years of waiting, so after much prayer, we felt the Lord calling us to find another way. Rather than allowing faith-based education to disappear from our community, we chose to move forward by researching the opportunity to open an Independent Christian School.”
“As the situation of the closure of the school unfolded, we realized this mission was much bigger than ourselves," said Shakyla Udelhoven, president of the Foundation. "As we prayed, researched, and sought guidance, the pieces began falling into place."
Rick and Pat Walsh, former Potosi residents and alumni of Sts. Andrew–Thomas School, are offering to match donations to the foundation up to $100,000.
The academy board has hired an architect for conversion of the building into classrooms. Volunteers have offered to help with remodeling.
“Our long-term hope is to one day return to our original school building," sai Udelhoven. "Until then, we cannot allow a gap in the faith formation of our children so grateful for the opportunity to open the Academy this fall.”
The announcement from Brunner said that nearly three-fourths of the parish’s offerings were going to the school. The school had no fifth- or sixth-graders during the 2025–26 school year, one seventh-grader and one eighth-grader, and seven students between second grade and fourth grade.
Brunner’s letter noted that St. Clement School in Lancaster “has room for all our current students,” and the Potosi School District covers transportation to Holy Ghost–Immaculate Conception School, which has campuses in Dickeyville and Kieler.
The opening of Sts. Andrew–Thomas Academy is the second announcement of a new Southwest Wisconsin parochial school this year. Holy Family Catholic Parish in Prairie du Chien announced it plans to open Chesterton Academy in Prairie du Chien, part of a network of four Wisconsin Catholic high schools, in fall 2027.
Holy Rosary School in Darlington closed in 2025, while St. Charles School in Cassville converted to a Montessori school and daycare in 2023. St. Mary in Platteville closed in 2012 after conflicts between church members on one side and St. Mary’s priests and late Bishop Robert Morlino on the other.
An effort to start a Catholic high school, Holy Family, which was to be based at the closed St. Bridget School in Ridgeway, was abandoned before the school was to open in fall 2013.
David Timmerman of the Grant County Herald Independent in Lancaster and Steve Van Kooten of the Prairie du Chien Courier Press contributed to this story.
