CNA Staff, Aug 2, 2024 / 16:51 pm

A scholarship-funded Catholic academy for boys is set to open this August in Cincinnati with the help of state scholarships and private donors, reviving a building that has been unused for more than 30 years.

In a city where at least five diocesan Catholic schools in Cincinnati have closed in the past decade, Xavier Jesuit Academy is supported financially by private donors while making use of Ohio’s school choice program. Large companies like Kroger are helping fund the kitchen, while locally based worldwide company GE Aerospace Engineering and Manufacturing is donating a STEM lab.

Xavier Jesuit Academy (XJA) will serve students in third through eighth grade in Bond Hill, a neighborhood of about 7,000, where almost 20% of residents live in poverty, according to an Ohio government report. 

The school for boys is set to open for classes on Aug. 14 with 45 students in third, fourth, and fifth grade on a campus shared with the Church of the Resurrection, one of only three predominantly Black Catholic churches in the area.

The original school building was used for St. Agnes, a Catholic elementary school that closed in 1993, and required a $9 million renovation.

Headed by Jesuit priest and founding president Father Nathan Wendt and founding principal Kyle Chandler, the academy will prioritize education that “honors the culture and dignity of the whole person: body, mind, and spirit,” according to the website.

For its inaugural year, school leaders brought to students’ doorsteps acceptance letters and certificates, balloons, and knapsacks to announce their acceptance as members of the founding class.

The Jesuit school will prioritize academic excellence, enriching extracurriculars, and small class sizes, the website notes. It is set to follow the Jesuit Nativity education model, featuring an extended day model.

Designed for kids whose parents work beyond school hours, the “extended day model” offers programming outside of the normal school day such as athletics, fine arts, culinary arts, and service opportunities. With an extended school year, students can attend school in the summer as well.

The Jesuit Nativity model is “designed to engage and encourage young learners during their formative years so they grow up to be great men who serve God and others,” according to the website.

Students will also be able to apply for the Ohio EdChoice scholarship program, which enables students from designated public schools to attend private school by providing up to $6,166 for K–8 students and $8,408 for grades 9–12 per year in scholarships.

Families may receive up to the full amount of the scholarship depending on their household income and number of dependents.

While tuition at XJA is $12,500, families would pay at most $1,000 for the year thanks to aid from donors.