Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2010 / Catholic all-girls high school to open in Wixom this fall
Catholic all-girls high school to open in Wixom this fall
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 23, 2010
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Staff and foundation members prepare for St. Catherine of Siena’s opening this fall: Lia Johnston, director of marketing and special events; Jacci Brown, academic and accreditation consultant; Tricia Turek, director of admissions; and Michael Dewan, president of the foundation. |
NEW HUDSON — St. Catherine of Siena Academy will have humble beginnings. But those involved with the school also have high hopes for its future.
The all-girls high school is on its way to opening in a temporary facility in Wixom this fall, as the permanent location gets built for its second year and beyond, said Lia Johnston, the academy's director of marketing and special events. The school hosted a groundbreaking ceremony last November, at which Archbishop Allen Vigneron said a blessing on the property. They expect to be moving dirt around on the permanent site within the next month or so.
The history of the school goes back to 2006, when Cardinal Adam Maida, then archbishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, suggested that there should be more secondary schools on the northwest side of the archdiocese, Johnston explained. At about that time, Catholic Central High School moved from Redford to its current location in Novi, and Michael Dewan, alumnus and now a CC parent, was active in that effort.
His wife mentioned that although it was great the young men living in the area had a new school, what about the young women? "I said, 'If it's God's will that a school for girls opens, I'm sure it'll happen," he said.
Growing up in South Lyon, he and his siblings went to various Catholic schools in the area, including Catholic Central, Ladywood in Livonia and Our Lady of Victory in Northville. "All (my mom) did was drive us from one Catholic school to another," he said. "She was committed to Catholic education."
So is Dewan, who has taken over the role of president of the school's foundation: He's kept the effort going through stock and bond market crashes, through the initial religious order pulling out of the project, and other setbacks. But they've had benefactors — 82-year-old Stella Campbell, a member Holy Spirit Parish, Hamburg, among them — and they are speaking to three other religious orders about running the school.
The plans include a $30 million, 137,000 square foot-building on Grand River Avenue and Napier Road in Wixom that will hold 700 students. They'll start with a freshman class and add another class every year, and have budgeted for a 30-student and a 60-student model the first year. Tuition is planned to be $9,800, but a discount for the temporary location will bring it down to $7,000 the first year.
"We want these young women to come in and to understand who they are, who they are as women in the image of God — and go out into the world as confident young women," in their faith, family and the rest of society," Johnston said.
In the office that now serves as St. Catherine's headquarters, activity has included selecting final uniforms and the mascot, and planning for an upcoming open house.
"There are not enough schools to educate all of the kids that deserve the opportunity to get a Catholic education. In this area specifically, women are under-served," Dewan said.
Mary Healy, Ph.D., a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, is also on the curriculum committee at St. Catherine of Siena. She said the curriculum's inspiration comes from Pope John Paul II's teachings on the dignity and vocation of women.
The school will help young women discover their identity by basing the curriculum on four pillars: spiritual, academic, human and leadership. Each year will have a theme as the students move from grade to grade: Our Identity in Christ, the Dignity and Vocation of Women, the Integration of Faith and Reason, and Women in the Culture.
The human formation aspect will focus on creating a culture not only for learning, but allowing the young woman to grow personal integrity and confidence, Healy said. "Contemporary culture gives very strong messages to young women about where their value lies — that it lies in their body, their sexiness, their attractiveness to men — and the dignity of women is greatly devalued."
Leadership is also important for building confidence, she explained — "And if they're only followers, then they're more susceptible to observing the values of the world, rather than bring the Gospel into the world."
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