By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -

KEY WEST | Makenzie Morris had always dreamed of giving a speech at her high school graduation. On May 23, dressed in a white cap and gown adorned with regalia, cords, and medals, she fulfilled that dream as salutatorian of the Class of 2026 at Basilica High School at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Key West.

“It was really nice, especially getting the opportunity to thank the school for the 12 years they gave me, and also thanking my family. My little sister was so excited to hear her name,” said Makenzie.

The 16 seniors of the Basilica School Class of 2026 made history as the school’s first graduating class since 1986.

“It was truly a joy to join the school community for this important moment,” said Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Miami. “Not only was this a celebration of the graduates, but also of the terrific work of the school and parish community.”

The Archdiocese of Miami is one of the largest Catholic school systems in the southeastern United States, serving more than 37,000 students through 65 schools and three stand-alone preschools in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties. More than 3,000 Catholic educators and staff members provide education from infancy through 12th grade, combining academic excellence with faith formation.

The graduates are all college-bound, earning more than $524,000 in scholarships and averaging SAT scores above 1300. The class includes a National Merit Scholar, a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student (Makenzie), a collegiate volleyball signee, and more.

“I see these young adults, and they are so prepared and intelligent,” said Christina Baird, who teaches science at Basilica High School. “There was just something about that class. They had manners, they were academically focused, they all had a plan for where they were going after graduation. They were exceptional, and I truly hope that they keep going.”

Although being the first graduating class is a historic achievement, Makenzie said she hopes her class is remembered for more than that milestone.

“We were just the beacons; we were just the people helping make it happen. We had a lot of responsibility with our input. But really, it’s the school that lives on. The school is the legacy,” she said.

Reopening a high school

When Makenzie was an eighth grader at Basilica School, she and 17 other graduating students faced a difficult decision: where to continue their education.

“It was a big decision. A lot of my friends were going over to Key West High School,” she said.

Their choice reflected a challenge the community had faced for decades. The Basilica School’s original high school, Mary Immaculata, closed in 1986 due to declining enrollment and financial challenges, leaving the Florida Keys without a local Catholic secondary school. With the nearest Catholic option more than 150 miles away in Miami, families continued advocating for its reopening.

When Father John Baker, rector of the Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea, hired Robert Wright as principal in 2013, reopening the high school was one of the first challenges he encountered.

“We couldn’t start a high school when the school that currently existed was sort of on life support,” he said, noting that the primary school had only about 170 students at the time.

That October, Wright recalled an intense conversation with Father Baker about the school’s future.

“I do love the process of creating a vision and working towards it, but I don’t like to be micromanaged. And I remember kind of giving him an ultimatum, and saying, ‘Please support me and I will give you a real school. Or else I will finish this school year and give you the keys back,’” said Wright.

The next day, Father Baker approached him with a simple response: “I want a real school.”

“For the next 12 years, until he retired, not a week went by without him saying, ‘I love my real school,’” said Wright.

As the Keys’ population grew, need-based vouchers and scholarship programs helped expand enrollment, while the school’s mission and ethos attracted new families.

“We’re heavy on academics, but more important is the formation of the whole student, including character and virtue. If faith and virtue are not the cornerstone of what we do, then we should just close our doors,” said Wright.

Once enrollment reached a sustainable level, Wright and his team believed the time had come to reopen the high school. Through careful planning, preparation and persistence, they secured approval from the Archdiocese of Miami at the end of the 2022 school year.

“The only caveat was that we would have to open the following academic year. I was looking at starting in two years,” said Wright.

He shared the news with the families of graduating eighth graders, including Makenzie’s, that Basilica High School would reopen in the 2023-24 school year with an inaugural ninth-grade class. Sixteen families enrolled.

“That was a lot of faith that they put in us, and in me. God certainly did provide,” said Wright.

A school renewed

That fall, for the first time in decades, a freshman class walked the halls of Basilica School.

“We were called ‘the pilot class,’” Makenzie said.

They quickly built traditions of their own. Among their favorites was a coffee and tea station reserved for high school students.

“A group of us would walk over and get coffee. It was one of our favorite things to do,” she said.

In its early days, the high school shared campus facilities with the elementary program. Plans were later announced to renovate the aging auditorium into a high school building.

“We started the capital campaign for it and called it ‘From Start to Finish.’ I’d actually always envisioned a school where you could come in at preschool and leave years later with a diploma,” said Wright.

Once completed, the new three-story complex featured seven classrooms, a state-of-the-art chemistry lab, a library and multiple flex-use spaces. To students’ delight, the coffee and tea station was also relocated there.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski blessed the facility Dec. 13, 2024, and classes began there in spring 2025. Enrollment also opened for all four high school grades.

A new bronze statue of Stella Maris, or St. Mary Star of the Sea, was also added.

“We’re called ‘The Mariners.’ That’s what all of our sports cheers are. But we look up to Mary because we’re called St. Mary Star of the Sea. She’s our patroness at the school,” said Makenzie.‘

'A part of something greater'

Five years ago, Christina Baird was working full time as a nurse in a surgeon’s office when she learned of an opening for a science teacher at Basilica School. With degrees in nursing and education, and a lifelong connection to Wright’s family, she reached out.

“He had the little bird chirping in my ear, and I felt it was truly a work of God,” said Baird. “I was getting very tired of nursing, my family needed me, and then all of a sudden, this spot opened for me to join Basilica School, so I just ran with it. It was definitely one of those blessings in disguise.”

After a decade in nursing, Baird transitioned to the classroom.

“My true love is teaching, and the fact that I teach at a Catholic school makes it even better. On top of that, both of my daughters go to Basilica School,” she said.

Baird comes from a Basilica School legacy family, as her grandmother, mother and aunts are all graduates. They were educated by the Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, who established the original school.

“They were very vocal about explaining how intelligent these women were and how academically focused they were,” said Baird.

She attended kindergarten at Basilica School before her family moved away. When they returned, enrollment was full, and by the time she reached high school, it was still closed.

“I’m pretty sure if the high school had been open, my mom would have had me attend there,” she said.

Now teaching at the school that shaped generations of her family, Baird is grateful to educate new generations of Mariners. Watching her first group of seniors graduate this spring was especially meaningful.

“It was definitely an act of God because so many things had to come together for all of this to work. It was a fresh breath of air, a light feeling and a sense of happiness that surrounded the whole graduation day. It was beautiful,” she said.

During the ceremony, students were surprised with a new alma mater written and performed by Basilica School office manager and choir director Kara Kelly Brownell and music teacher Gabriela Gonzalez.

The chorus proclaims: “Hail Saint Mary Star of the Sea, Our guiding light, Lead us in truth each day. Hail Saint Mary Star of the Sea, Our dear Alma Mater, Guide us on our way.”

The song offers a lasting reminder of the school’s mission for Makenzie, the Class of 2026 and future Mariners as they begin the next chapter of their lives.

“It was special to be a part of that first graduating class, and something to be proud of,” said Makenzie. “Now that we’ve graduated, we’ve realized the humility that also comes with that. And just realizing that this is all for something greater, in the sense of the school, but also of the mission of Christ. We’re all a part of something greater.”