Odyssey Charter buys St. Thomas School

WILMINGTON — St. Thomas the Apostle Parish has sold its school building at 201 Bayard Ave. to Odyssey Charter School for $2.5 million. Father Daniel Gerres, pastor, said the parish will use the money from the sale to repay the Diocese of Wilmington about $600,000 for loans it gave the parish to keep St. Thomas School open for several years, to develop a parish hall in the original church-school building, and to make future improvements to the church and its property. Planning for the parish hall is in the initial stages, Father Gerres said, who said he did not know how much it will cost. The original church-school building is behind the present church at Fourth Street and Bancroft Parkway. St. Thomas School, which opened in 1903, closed last June as a result of declining enrollment. When the closing was announced last May, 141 students were enrolled in grades prekindergarten to 8. The school building includes a gymnasium, cafeteria and library. Odyssey, chartered through the Red Clay School District, provides a Greekimmersion education — including Greek as a second language — for grades kindergarten through grade 5. It has a campus at 3821 Lancaster Ave.