Corpus Christi College-Academy
Historical marker location:IN 1927, THE BENEDICTINE MONKS OF THE NEW SUBIACO MONASTERY IN ARKANSAS ACCEPTED AN INVITATION FROM BISHOP EMMANUEL LEDVINA TO ESTABLISH A CATHOLIC BOYS’ SCHOOL IN THE DIOCESE OF CORPUS CHRISTI. EAGER FOR SUCH A SCHOOL THAT HIS GRANDSONS COULD ATTEND, JOHN DUNN OFFERED THE DIOCESE FORTY ACRES OF THE DUNN FAMILY HOMESTEAD ON WHICH TO BUILD THE SCHOOL. THE TRACT, LOCATED APPROXIMATELY FIVE MILES FROM CORPUS CHRISTI, WAS DEEMED AN IDEAL SITE.
THE SCHOOL WAS NAMED CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, AND THE FIRST STUDENTS, ENROLLED IN GRADES 7 THROUGH 12, STARTED CLASSES IN FALL 1928. A FIVE-STORY BRICK BUILDING HAD BEEN COMPLETED JUST IN TIME FOR THE START OF CLASSES. IN 1929, THE FIRST GRADUATING CLASS CONSISTED OF THREE STUDENTS. THE SCHOOL SOON BECAME KNOWN AS CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE-ACADEMY AND EVENTUALLY AS CORPUS CHRISTI ACADEMY. WITH INCREASED ENROLLMENT, A BAND, A CHOIR, AND SPORTS TEAMS WERE ESTABLISHED FOR STUDENTS. FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS THE SCHOOL HAD ITS OWN MUSEUM, WHICH CONSISTED OF THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF JOHN B. DUNN, A COUSIN OF THE JOHN DUNN WHO HAD DONATED THE SCHOOL PROPERTY. THE COLLECTION WAS LOANED TO THE CORPUS CHRISTI MUSEUM IN 1964 AND WAS LATER SOLD TO THE MUSEUM.
THE ACADEMY’S PEAK ENROLLMENT OCCURRED IN 1948, WHEN THE SCHOOL POPULATION CONSISTED OF 200 STUDENTS. ADDITIONS TO THE SCHOOL PLANT DURING THE 1960s CONTRIBUTED TO BUDGETARY SHORTFALLS, AND THE BENEDICTINES GAVE UP OPERATION OF THE SCHOOL AT THE END OF THE 1966-1967 TERM, LEAVING OVERSIGHT TO THE DIOCESE OF CORPUS CHRISTI. DESPITE EFFORTS TO RAISE FUNDS TO SAVE THE SCHOOL, A DECISION WAS MADE TO CLOSE THE CORPUS CHRISTI ACADEMY IN MAY 1972.