ABBEVILLE — Vermilion Catholic High School will be acquiring Mount Carmel School and will form the only Pre-K through 12th grade Catholic school in the lower Acadiana region as part of the purchase agreement.

The agreement was announced earlier this week by St. Mary Magdalene Church, which owns Vermilion Catholic through the Diocese of Lafayette, according to a prepared statement. Mount Carmel School of Abbeville, located adjacent to Vermilion Catholic High School, is owned by the Congregation of the Sisters of Mount Carmel. VCHS is the only Catholic high school in Vermilion Parish.

As a result, the school will be renamed “Vermilion Catholic, a legacy of Mount Carmel” and will begin registering students in the 2022 school year starting on Jan. 31. Michael Guilbeaux will serve as principal.

Mount Carmel has been functioning as a school since 1885, when four sisters of Mount Carmel were sent to open a school in the Abbeville region with 40 students awaiting them. The school was originally for girls only, but in 1889 the first boy was admitted to Mount Carmel School.

Today Mount Carmel has an enrollment of over 400 students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 8. All grades have two sections each. There is an average of 25 students per class.

Vermilion Catholic High School opened its doors almost 50 years ago, and consisted of sisters of Mount Carmel, a diocesan priest and some laity. As the years progressed and religious orders declined, the faculty became more lay person under the direction of an administrator from the Mount Carmel Order of Sisters. Today, the administration and staff are all lay persons.

The Rev. Louis Richard, pastor of St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church, said that both Catholic entities have long shared the same goal of preserving Catholic education in the community.

“We will be forever grateful to the Sisters of Mount Carmel for their profound influence in our community, and we are committed to honoring their legacy and ensuring the Carmel spirit remains prominent in our school’s future,” Richard said.

The Rev. Lawrence Habetz, president of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mount Carmel, said that the Carmelite order is grateful to all who have come through the hall of Mount Carmel School over the years.

“It now seems to be the appropriate time to reunify with Vermilion Catholic High School and provide a one-system of Catholic education that will be sustainable in the future,” he said.

“St. Mary Magdalen and the Sisters of Mount Carmel have long shared a common goal of preserving Catholic education in our community. After prayerful consideration and an optimistic outlook for the future success of our school, we at Vermilion Catholic are pleased to be given the opportunity to promote the only fully integrated Catholic school in the lower Acadiana region. We will be forever grateful to the Sisters of Mount Carmel for their profound influence in our community, and we are committed to honoring their legacy and ensuring the Carmel spirit remains prominent in our school’s future.”