Jacksonville, Fla. – The Guardian Catholic Schools, a fundraising arm for St. Pius V and Holy Rosary Catholic schools of the Diocese of St. Augustine, announced the launch of its first capital campaign – “Build the Dream, Guard the Legacy.” The Guardian’s goal is to raise $9 million to build a new, modern school that will bring together early learning education through 8th grade students of these two North Jacksonville schools.
With a combined history of providing a quality Catholic education to students in these schools for more than 150 years, the campuses of St. Pius and Holy Rosary are in need of expensive maintenance, often creating the need for emergency repairs. After reviewing proposals to bring the current buildings up to standard, the Board of Directors for The Guardian Catholic Schools determined that bringing the two schools under one roof would be more cost-effective in the long-term, and enable the organization to focus its financial resources on additional scholarship opportunities for children rather than fund immediate or emergency repairs.
A new facility will also accomplish other key goals for the organization, such as:
- Expand enrollment capacity from 400 to 500 students
- Minimize wait lists
- Incorporate modern classroom designs and increase high-impact educational technology
- Reduce overhead and operational expenses
- Add a much-needed indoor gymnasium
- Expand arts, music and STEM courses (science, technology, engineering and math) with dedicated space and resources for these programs
The new school, which will be named The Guardian Catholic School, will be built on the current Holy Rosary campus, located at 4920 Brentwood Avenue in Jacksonville. Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2016 with completion expected in time for students to begin the 2017 school year in August.
For more information about the Capital Campaign, call Mervin Denny at (904) 765-1920 or visit http://www.guardiancatholicschools.org.
The Guardian of Catholic Schools operates as a fundraising arm for St. Pius V and Holy Rosary Catholic schools of the Diocese of St. Augustine, which is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. The diocese encompasses 17 counties of Northeast and North Central Florida and includes four stand-alone preschools, 24 elementary schools including pre-kindergarten, four secondary schools and one special education school.
DATE: February 16, 2016
CONTACT: Kathleen Bagg
(904) 262-1705/office
(904) 434-3909/cell