For the first time in 30 years, the diocese will open a new Catholic school.
Ave Maria Academy, set to open this fall at Columbus-Powell St. Peter St. Joan of Arc parish, is the first parochial school to open in the diocese since Dublin St. Brigid of Kildare School was established in August 1996.
At that time, St. Brigid of Kildare was the first diocesan school to open in more than 35 years. And so, the founding of a new school can be recognized as a rare and significant event for the diocese.
“We are really blessed by the support we received from the people at St. Peter St. Joan of Arc … from other Catholic schools that neighbor St. Peter St. Joan of Arc parish but also the support we’ve received from other Catholic schools throughout the diocese,” said Father David Schalk, the parish pastor.
“I’m really looking forward to expanding the Catholic education infrastructure in central Ohio and being an ingredient in expanding options for Catholic education in our diocese.”
Ave Maria Academy will begin with preschool and kindergarten classes this fall, adding an additional grade level each year through eighth grade.
The school will be based at the parish’s St. Peter Church campus, located in northwest Columbus. The parish began renovations to the McEwan Center at St. Peter, originally built in 1980.
The school building will eventually accommodate preschool through second grade classes. The parish plans to build a new school at the Powell St. Joan of Arc Church campus, which will house grades three through eight.
“It’s really exciting to build an unapologetically Catholic culture from the ground floor, and it definitely feels like we are doing something new, that we are – with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit – crafting something truly beautiful for God and for our diocese and for our parish,” Father Schalk said.
Ave Maria Academy will partner with the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE) to offer a Catholic classical education.
The partnership with ICLE will help the school select a curriculum, craft a pedagogy – or teaching methods – and craft a vision and framework for an authentically Catholic classical education.
“That’s part of the difference that you’ll see, this integration of our Catholic faith into all the subjects: bringing beautiful music, beautiful holy art into reading and math and science so that there’s this integration of our catholicity throughout,” said Dorothy (Dottie) Flanagan, who will serve as the school’s principal.
“We won’t be teaching in silos. We’ll be teaching content the way it was meant to be taught, the way it was taught 2,000 years ago, matching the way human beings were made, Christian anthropology and allowing our students to explore and to dig deeper – to really form souls and disciples, and that’s the ultimate goal.”
Flanagan brings 35 years of experience in public education to Ave Maria Academy. She spent 34 years at Columbus City Schools, 21 of those years as a principal.
The head of Ave Maria Academy is an active member of St. Peter St. Joan of Arc parish, serving as a regular Adorer, lector and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. Flanagan experienced a call to lead the new parochial school, she said, and a desire to support the work of the parish.
“I’m being formed through the Catechetical Institute and also being supported by the many wonderful people with the Office of Catholic Schools,” she explained. “Sister John Paul, (assistant superintendent for Catholic culture), is my mentor, so I’m learning every day, really, about the true and the beautiful with regards to Catholic education.”
In addition to partnering with the ICLE, Ave Maria Academy partnered with the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who minister in early childhood education.
Two consecrated religious in the order will relocate from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to teach at the Columbus diocese’s newest school. The old rectory at St. Peter will be remodeled as a convent for the sisters, one of whom will serve as a preschool teacher and the other as an educational aide.
The congregation of the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception began under the spiritual guidance of Blessed Edmund Bojanowski in 1850s-Poland, reaching the United States in 1926.
“They’ll be bringing their charism to Ave Maria Academy, and that will help form our Catholic identity and culture,” Flanagan said.
The school is also hiring a kindergarten teacher and an additional preschool teacher and educational aide.
The academy, when opening this fall, will be more than two years in the making.
Discussions about a parochial school at St. Peter St. Joan of Arc began in the spring of 2024. A steering committee was created to raise funds and upgrade existing facilities.
A parent advisory committee came together in the last few months, helping implement the vision. The committee was composed of several potential parents who completed an initial interest survey in 2024.
Members of the advisory committee and St. Peter St. Joan of Arc parish considered various names for the school, ultimately deciding that it should reflect the Real Presence.
“What sets our faith apart is the Eucharist and our strong belief in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist,” Flanagan explained. “Several names were generated, but we really wanted to focus on that.
“Mary, being the first monstrance, (a vessel that holds the consecrated host), and our devotion to Mary – Ave Maria Academy rose to the top of the list. It was a name that Father Schalk and Bishop (Earl) Fernandes both agreed on and thought was a good idea.”
She added that the school’s mascot will be the archangels.
Partnership with the ICLE includes a three-year development plan. The school will continue partnering with the institute after that time, having access to conferences and staff development opportunities, such as instructional delivery methods for teachers.
“What you’ll see when you go into classrooms … is students thinking and wondering and observing and listening, using the senses that God has blessed humanity with to do something that no other animal can do … think at high levels and feel at high levels so that we can learn and understand and create new knowledge based on truth and beauty of the human person.
“Really, rather than creating students who are college and career ready, our goal … is … to support the learning and growth and development of a student’s intellect so that they can become good, positive, Catholic Christian members of society and impact the world.”