SUMMARY: The Archdiocese of Seattle is moving forward with plans to establish and potentially build a new private regional high school on the Sacred Heart parking lot at 14th Street and Knox Avenue in South Hill. The Northern Deanery Catholic High School (NDCHS) is scheduled to open as early as September 2026. The first classes will meet in the Sacred Heart Parish Hall while a building location plan is finalized.

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This proposed regional school poses a significant impact on a broad residential area. Establishing, operating, and expanding a large high school in the historic, densely built South Hill neighborhood raises serious and lasting concerns for our community. Such a development could significantly degrade property values and diminish quality of life through increased traffic congestion and liability issues, street parking overflow, day and evening noise, light pollution, increased safety risk to adjacent elementary school children, and strain on already limited infrastructure. It also risks altering the historic character and walkability of South Hill, setting a precedent for further large-scale institutional development in an area never designed to accommodate it. These impacts would not be confined to South Hill alone, but would ripple into Fairhaven, Happy Valley, and nearby neighborhoods. Residents across these communities should closely examine this proposal, ask questions of the relevant parties, and actively participate in the decision-making process before irreversible changes are made to our shared neighborhood. A local advocacy group is forming to coordinate community information and involvement.

Now the details:

The following is a summary of information presented at a community meeting held on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at Sacred Heart Parish Hall, as well as public information research. The meeting presentation was given by Dr. Andrew (Andy) Remien, Director of Implementation for Northern Deanery Catholic High School (NDCHS) and was attended by approximately 10 community members. (The meeting invitation and presentation slides are attached.)

SCHOOL PROJECT TIMELINE: Planning began in 2023 with the formation of a steering committee within the Archdiocese of Seattle that completed a feasibility study, curriculum plan, site evaluation, and initial fundraising. The first public announcement of the proposed high school appeared in Cascadia Daily News on October 19, 2025 (PDF attached). Student recruitment meetings were held in Bellingham and Mount Vernon between October 8 and November 13, 2025. The first community information meeting took place on December 13, 2025, in Bellingham.

CURRENT AND FUTURE BUILDING SITE: Dr. Remien stated that Sacred Heart Parish Hall—originally built and zoned as a school in 1961—would serve as the initial site for the proposed high school. The nearby church parking lot is under active consideration for permanent school construction and future expansion. While the planning committee indicated it will investigate alternative sites elsewhere in Bellingham, no specific locations or timelines were identified.

No detailed site selection criteria were presented at the meeting. However, based on commonly cited standards from other high school planning efforts, site selection typically involves factors such as land or facility availability suitable for renovation or new construction, public accessibility, traffic capacity, proximity to supporting institutions, and room for long-term expansion. From a neighborhood perspective, additional concerns include enrollment growth, parking demand, traffic and noise impacts, and accommodation of school events. Modern high schools often require specialized facilities—such as libraries, performing arts spaces, athletic fields, career and technical education labs, and expanded student support services. National school planning guidelines frequently recommend substantially more square footage per student than appears to be available on the Sacred Heart parking lot, which is estimated to be less than one acre.

CURRENT AND FUTURE FACILITIES: Currently, Sacred Heart Parish Hall contains six classrooms, administrative offices, a commercial kitchen, and shared gathering spaces. Dr. Remien stated that significant interior and exterior renovations would be required before occupancy, including the likely installation of temporary classroom structures on the south side of the building (In his words, “…such as a chemistry classroom, in case of fire”).  If the church site is selected for permanent expansion, the parking lot may be redeveloped into a multi-story school building—described as up to “three stories with underground parking.” Such construction would represent a substantial change in scale and intensity of use for this residential area.

PROJECTED ENROLLMENT AND TRANSPORTATION PLANS: The school plans to recruit students from a five-county region, including Whatcom, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and North Snohomish Counties. The initial ninth-grade class is projected to include approximately 24 students, with long-term enrollment projected at more than 200 students annually. Student transportation is expected to be provided by bus or van, raising questions about traffic volume, routing, and daily impacts on surrounding streets.

FINANCING: The high school requires approximately $2 million in private capital funding to open. As of the meeting, about $1 million had been raised, largely from families of prospective students. The Archdiocese has set March 2026 as the deadline to fully fund the project and open in September 2026; otherwise, the school opening would be delayed to September 2027. Ongoing operations would rely primarily on tuition, currently set at $14,000 per student per year. Long-term financial sustainability, including future capital needs, was not discussed.

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACTS: If the school is established and expands as projected, both construction and ongoing operations could significantly affect the surrounding neighborhood. Potential impacts include increased traffic and congestion, street parking overflow, lighting pollution and noise, safety and liability concerns for near nearby schools and residences, loss of neighborhood character, and changes to views and scale in a historic residential area. These impacts would likely intensify as enrollment and facilities expand, underscoring the need for careful review and meaningful community involvement at this stage.

You can direct comments and questions to:

Dr. Andrew (Andy) Remien, Director of Implementation and school principal: andy@assumption.org and (206) 605-9827. His professional information is on the Northern Deanery High School website: https://ndhighschool.org/about-2-2/director/.  Zoominfo: https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Andrew-Remien/5272859689. LinkdIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-remien-4411b4218/.

Fr. Jeffrey Moore, Sacred Hear Parish pastor, Dean of the Northern Deanery and co-chair of the NDCHS Steering Committee: frmoore@whatcomcatholic.org. 5781 Hendrickson Ave, Ferndale, WA 98248.

The Most Reverend Paul D. Etienne, D.D., S.T.L., Archbishop of Seattle: Info@seattlearch.org and (206) 382-4560. Archdiocese of Seattle, 710 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104

Cascadia Daily News, Ron Judd, Executive Editor: letters@cascadiadaily.com.

The Bellingham Herald, Scot Heisel, Senior Editor: letters@bellinghamherald.com, https://www.bellinghamherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/submit-letter/, and (360) 676-2600. 336 36th St., PBM# 376Bellingham, WA 98225

South Hill Neighborhood Association: https://southhillneighborhood.org

Happy Valley Neighborhood Association: https://happyvalleyna.org/

Fairhaven Neighborhood Association: FairhavenNeighborsConnect@gmail.com andhttps://www.fairhavenneighbors.org/.

City of Bellingham – City Council: All council members at ccmail@cob.org, Council office staff at councilstaff@cob.org and (360) 778-8200.

City of Bellingham Planning Department – South Hill: https://cob.org/services/planning/neighborhoods/south-hill-2

Or me, of course:

Scott Henderson: scott@scottandmartin.com.

South Hill Resident

Please let me know if any information here is inaccurate or incomplete.