History of Bishop Kelly High School & the Bishop Kelly Foundation
by Father James R. Wilson
July 16, 2002

            Boise’s first high school was a Catholic school. Saint Teresa’s Academy was established in 1890 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross as a high school and boarding school for young women.  Later, St. Joseph’s School was built to offer Catholic education to the young men of the area, with an elementary school occupying the lower level and a high school on the upper floor. In 1933, the two high schools joined to form the co-ed St. Teresa’s Academy, which educated both Catholic and non-Catholic students until it closed in 1964.

            As far back as the 1930’s, Bishop Edward Joseph Kelly had dreamed of establishing a Catholic high school under the direction of the Diocese of Boise. Though he campaigned for his idea for nearly thirty years, he died in 1956 without it being realized. By the time Bishop Sylvester Treinen became Bishop of Boise in 1962, the Holy Cross Order had determined that they would not continue to operate St. Teresa’s Academy, so he authorized the building of a new high school and gave it the name of his predecessor who had first conceived the idea.  Thus, Bishop Kelly High School came into being, opening its doors in the fall of 1964 and graduating its first class in May 1965.

            Father (later Monsignor) Raymond J. Peplinski was the first principal and tuition was $150, the same as it had been at St. Teresa’s. Although there was a great deal of excitement surrounding the opening of a brand new high school, there was also some controversy.  Many people thought that the Diocese had committed a serious error in building the school “so far out in the country”.  Still others found it difficult to accept the school and were reluctant to support it because they felt that they had not been consulted about its construction, but rather had it thrust upon them by the Diocese.

            In 1965, a young Irish priest arrived at Bishop Kelly, “straight off the boat from Australia”, having never even heard of Boise; and in fact, having to be corrected by an airline employee when he rhymed it with “noise”.  Father James R. “Reg” Wilson began as a teacher; but soon took on more responsibility as the Dean of Students and ultimately succeeded Father Peplinski as principal in 1971, a position he held for 12 years.

            By 1972, many families were struggling to meet the demands of educating one or more of their children at Bishop Kelly; and enrollment was not increasing at the hoped-for rate.  Three Boise businessmen, who were friends of Father Wilson, proposed a campaign to raise money for scholarships.  Jack Kennevick, Lyle Cobbs, and J. Kirk Sullivan co-chaired the first community-wide fundraising drive on behalf of Bishop Kelly, asking local businesses and foundations for a donation of $250, the cost of tuition for one student.  The Boise community responded generously, with $19,000 raised the first year, $28,000 the second year, and $37,000 the third year.

            Enrollment continued to decrease in response to rumors that the school would be closing its doors.  In the local newspaper, the Superintendent of the Boise Independent School District was quoted as having reported to his school board that Bishop Kelly High School was for sale.  Father Wilson asked a student to put up a message on BK’s marquee in full view of Franklin Road that said, “This Property Not for Sale”.  A story about that message appeared that evening on the local television news programs and the next morning in The Idaho Statesman.  Bishop Kelly could not have purchased more wonderful publicity for the school.

            On April 22, 1971, Father James R. Wilson was appointed principal of Bishop Kelly High School effective July 1, 1971.  One month after he took over from Father Peplinski, Father Wilson received a letter from Bishop Treinen informing him that he had appointed an ad hoc committee, chaired by Monsignor Nicholas Hughes, rector of St. John’s Cathedral, to determine whether or not the school would continue to operate.  Father Wilson phoned the Bishop to state his position on the matter; “Over my dead body,” he said.

             The initial meeting of the committee was held on October 23, 1971.  Father Wilson asked Monsignor Hughes, his good friend and fellow Irishman, if he could take the floor first before anyone could begin any discussion.  Monsignor Hughes agreed and called on Father Wilson, who stood and proclaimed, “We are not here to determine whether or not the school will close, but rather to devise ways to make it even bigger and better in the future”.  Following applause from many of those present, Monsignor Hughes set the tone for the rest of the meeting by announcing, “We have gathered here, not to preside at a funeral; but rather to witness a resurrection."

            The turmoil that had arisen at Bishop Kelly was partly a result of declining enrollments, but also because of the uncertainty of financial resources.  Bishop Treinen had informed Father Wilson that the Diocese would no longer be able to commit diocesan funds after the 1975-76 school year and that the parishes would have to assume more responsibility for the school’s operational expenses.  The school needed to find a way to survive with tuition revenue and the subsidies from the parishes.

            In 1975, Father Wilson began to look at other successful Catholic high schools, particularly those that were thriving in the East and tried to pinpoint the reason why they were doing so well when Bishop Kelly was struggling.  The difference was a viable endowment administered by a foundation.  He also had compiled statistics to show that Bishop Kelly’s tuition was much lower than that of other Catholic schools in the Northwest, yet the school was unable to bring up enrollment figures.  Father reasoned that if they could establish a foundation and perhaps come up with a successful fundraiser along the lines of FUNDSY, a community auction which had been quite lucrative in Boise, the school could keep tuition low and still not have to worry about closing its doors.

             Thirteen prominent Boiseans, seven Catholics and six non-Catholics, were invited to dinner at Hillcrest Country Club, hosted by W. Larry Mills, to discuss the state of affairs at Bishop Kelly.  After listening to Father Wilson’s vision, Sam Kaufman, a respected local attorney, summarized the situation when he said, “It seems to me that we have two needs here – one immediate and one long range.  We must address the immediate needs of the school to make sure it does not close, and we have to find a way to ensure its long term security”.  This was exactly what Father had in mind, and the other thirteen people assembled there enthusiastically agreed.  Thus, the Bishop Kelly Foundation was born.  The founders and charter members were:

            James E. Bruce, Jr.
            William R. Chandler
            Lyle R. Cobbs
            Anton E. Dropping
            Samuel Kaufman, Jr.
            Jack Kennevick
            Richard E. Larson
            John W. Leonard
            Glenn A. Lungren
            W. Larry Mills
            Joseph A. Moore
            J. Kirk Sullivan
            George P. Wolter, Jr.
            Reverend James R. Wilson

            Once the Bishop Kelly Foundation had been incorporated in 1976, attention turned to developing a fundraiser that could generate funds for the short term and also to establish an endowment for the school’s future security.  In 1977, the first dinner/auction was held at the Downtowner Motel in Boise.  It raised $56,000.  Bishop Treinen was amazed.  After two successful auctions, Foundation Board member, Glenn Lungren, returned from a trip to California with an idea to distinguish the Bishop Kelly Foundation’s auction from all others.  He introduced the “reverse car drawing” concept in which all auction attendees’ names are placed in a hopper and systematically drawn out one by one until the last person remaining wins a new car.  It was an instant success and has remained the unique trademark of the Bishop Kelly auction to this day.

            When it became apparent that the Bishop Kelly Foundation was becoming a driving force behind the success of Bishop Kelly High School, many people began to inquire about how they could get on the Board.  The by-laws were changed to expand the number of Board members.  However, one aspect of the way the Foundation was set up never would change.  Sam Kaufman set up the Foundation in such a way that its funds could not be touched by an outside entity.  Over the years, attempts were made to incorporate the Foundation’s endowment into the Diocese of Boise; but the Articles of Incorporation of the Bishop Kelly Foundation made it impossible to do so.  They were written in such a way that should Bishop Kelly High School ever cease to exist, any funds held by the Foundation would go to Catholic education - first in Boise, then in Idaho, and finally in the Northwest.  Provisions were also made to keep the corpus intact, using only the earnings from the endowment except in extreme circumstances.

            Even after he completed his term as principal, Father Reg Wilson continued to be involved with the Bishop Kelly Foundation while serving as a parish priest in Sun Valley and Lewiston.  He was named an Honorary Lifetime Member for his singular role in establishing the organization.  In 2000, he returned to Bishop Kelly High School as its spiritual director.  In addition to being elected chairman of the Board of Directors - the board comprised of the pastors of the supporting parishes - Father Wilson once again returned to the Bishop Kelly Foundation Board.  In July of 2002, he articulated his dream for the future of Bishop Kelly High School and the Foundation.  “I want to see Bishop Kelly grow and thrive while still keeping tuition at an affordable level, so that any student who wants to attend BK will be able to do so.  With the Foundation’s help, I would like to see the school be financially secure enough so that we need never worry about closing our doors.  Then I would like to see us be able to help the local Catholic grade schools instead of the parishes having to subsidize Bishop Kelly.  I think it would greatly increase the support for this school.”