St. Mary’s Parish last week finalized the purchase of an $8.5 million property from Annapolis Area Christian School, a deal the church’s pastor described as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The Rev. Patrick Woods said in a statement that the acquisition of the 40,000-square-foot educational and religious facility along Bestgate Road came after a series of listening sessions with parishioners.

In a previous interview with Catholic Review, the pastor said possible uses could include a day care center, an expansion of the parish’s school or meeting spaces.

St. Mary’s Parish, part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, was established in 1853 in the heart of Annapolis off Duke of Gloucester Street. The downtown location of St. Mary’s Parish also houses its pre-K-12 school.

Christine Bervid, its communications coordinator, said “the whole city was built up around us,” which blocked the ability to expand. Woods would meet with members of the parish community to figure out their needs, she said.

John Rosso of Rosso Commercial Real Estate Services, which helped sell the space, said, “It’s an extremely rare property to be available for sale, especially along a main artery like Bestgate Road.”

A shared campus going forward

The Annapolis campus housed the AACS middle school, whose students will begin their last year at the site this fall, according to Chad Dirkse, the organization’s head of school.

Next school year, the middle school will be housed on the Severn campus, off of Burns Crossing Road, along with the AACS high school.

Dirkse said the move will allow middle and high school teachers to collaborate, and the school will set up mentorship programs between older and younger students. Athletic and performing arts programs can also involve students across grades, he said.

“We believe very strongly that having our middle school and high school share a campus will substantially improve overall our learning community,” Dirkse said. “It creates opportunities we didn’t have before.”

AACS began about 50 years ago in a rented Presbyterian church in Annapolis. The middle school campus on Bestgate Road was built in the 2000s.

Since then, the school has come to serve about 850 students across four campuses, two in Severn and two in Annapolis.

Dirkse said the relocation will inevitably be preferred by students whose commute times or bus rides are dramatically decreased by moving the middle school to Severn.

He added that “we are not leaving Annapolis.” The K-12 school will maintain an educational footprint in both Severn and Annapolis.

Clarification: This story was updated to clarify that St. Mary's School offers pre-K through Grade 12.