Palma School to go co-ed starting 2024 to 2025 school year

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV)- Palma School announced Thursday that they will accept female students grades 9 through 12 for the start of the 2024/2025 school year.

President of Palma School Chris Dalman said the decision was discussed over the past few months but the school has wanted to go co-ed and was speaking with the Diocese of Monterey after a study conducted during the Fall/Winter of 2021 and 2022. The discussions centered on the possibility of a co-educational high school in the Salinas Valley.

"The families and children in the northern part of the Diocese of Monterey could be better served by a co-educational high school structure in Salinas," said the Catholic School Management, Bishop Daniel Garcia and then-Provincial Leader of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers, Brother Kevin Griffith, in a joint statement.

Palma School said this is a full-circle comeback to their co-educational root. The School was founded in 1951 and turned to an all-boys school in the mid-1960s, two sources told KION.

Notre Dame High School said that rumors surrounding a merger with Palma School are untrue and that they will remain an all-girl school.

"I want to assure you that Notre Dame High School is not merging with Palma, is not closing, is financially sound with healthy reserves, and, most importantly, remains committed to providing young women with a high-quality and meaningful Catholic education," said Notre Dame President Kristi McLaughlin in a statement.