Peconic Community School buys historic Cutchogue campus for $2.85M
Peconic Community School has purchased Sacred Heart Church in Cutchogue for $2.85 million, securing what school leaders call its “forever home.”
The deal for the 10.2-acre historic site, finalized Dec. 16, 2025, includes the school building, church, rectory, carriage house and five acres of land.
School co-founder and executive director Liz Casey — who launched the independent school with her sister, Kathryn Casey Quigley, in 2012 — said owning the property gives the school “programmatic freedom to do a lot of different creative, educational programming in a beautiful village hub.”
“Having our own space,” she said, “elevates what we’re able to do as an independent school.”
PCS, which has operated out of the old Our Lady of Mercy School building on the campus since January 2024 under a lease-to-buy agreement, has been seeking to buy the 19th-century campus since September 2022.
It took two years to raise and secure the $4 million in funds necessary for the purchase and needed renovations, Ms. Casey said. The school pursued “aggressive fundraising” during that period and secured an additional $2.1 million in private loans.
Stephan Roussan, school board of trustees chair, told The Suffolk Times the purchase will help the school fulfill its “full potential.”
“When you have an institution like a school, not having control over your space, your property and what you can do with it in order to align it to your programming and what you want to offer your students is extremely difficult,” Mr. Roussan said.
The North Fork community was “extraordinary” throughout the entire fundraising period with their support of the acquisition, Mr. Roussan said.
“There is so much benefit to PCS taking up residence at this location in Cutchogue in terms of preserving the scenic value of and rural character of Cutchogue,” he said. “Keeping the property operating in the service of children, preserving a good amount of open space, and having an institution there that is vibrant and dynamic … really brings a lot of life to the hamlet.”
Ms. Casey envisions a maker-space in the carriage house and renovations in the church sanctuary to provide a performing space for students and meeting space for community groups after hours.
Future plans also include installing a playground with a swing set and a possible expansion of classroom space in the rectory building.
Ms. Casey said 98 students from pre-K through eighth grade are currently enrolled.
The church’s history dates back to 1878 when Irish and German farm families built and used it, according to Preservation Long Island. Catholic immigrants from Poland and Italy would also attend services at the modest Gothic-style church.
Ms. Casey said the church was “wonderful to work with” and called the local parish “really great partners through the process.”
“We’re just thrilled to be here, and to be here to stay,” she said.
Ms. Casey Quigley will exit her role as co-executive director in June.
Our Lady of Mercy School closed in 2018 and consolidated with St. Isidore in Riverhead after dwindling enrollment. The Sacred Heart parish merged with Our Lady of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church in Mattituck in 2012, said the Rev. Eric Fasano, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
“The proceeds from the sale of the property in Cutchogue will be used to help build a parish center in Mattituck that will serve the parish community as it continues to grow,” the Rev. Fasano said.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the acquisition will be held at the school Jan. 30 at 3:15 p.m.
