In 1927, Cardinal Mundelein extended an invitation to the Dominicans of St. Joseph Province to build and administer a new high school in the Archdiocese of Chicago. In a simple but impressive ceremony, the corner stone of the high school bearing the shield of the Dominican Order was placed by The Very Reverend Raymond Meagher, O.P., S.T.Lr., Provincial of the Province, on Tuesday, August 13, 1929. Before the corner stone was laid, however, most of the work on the building was completed and the school was ready for the opening day of school on Monday, September 9, 1929.

Fenwick opened its doors to 200 students and a staff of 11 Dominicans. The high school was named in honor of Edward Dominic Fenwick, O.P., the first Bishop of Cincinnati. Father Fenwick helped spread Catholicism throughout the Midwest and established the Dominican Order in the United States west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Fenwick High School was founded as an all-boys college preparatory school by the Fathers and Brothers of the Province of St. Joseph (New York), but in 1939, the St. Joseph Province was divided and Fenwick High School became part of the new Province of St. Albert the Great, with headquarters in Chicago. In 1992, girls were admitted for the first time. Today, Fenwick is known as a secondary school. Students use some athletic facilities, including a baseball field, two football fields, a softball diamond, and a soccer field on the campus of Fenwick's Dominican Priory in the nearby suburb of River Forest, formerly the St. Dom and Tom Priory.