After 15 years of being located in Cambridge, St. Scholastica HSC Academy has a new home.
On Wednesday, Sept. 7, the school opened its doors at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Isanti.
Principal Mary Koralewski said school leadership looked around for a year at different locations before choosing its new location.
“We decided to look for a new location because we needed larger classrooms, and Isanti worked well because a lot of our students live in Isanti,” Koralewski said. “Besides the larger size, the building is also a newer building, which is nice.”
Koralweski, who has served as principal for four years, explained the school currently has 36 students enrolled in first through 12th grades, but has the capacity to serve up to 80 students.
Koralweksi said the school is a Catholic-based co-ed private school whose goal is the formation of the whole person — mind, body and soul — to help transform the world.
“We were very excited to come in and see the new classrooms,” Koralweski said. “And Back to School night was also very exciting. The students are thrilled with this new location.”
The school offers multilevel classrooms, meaning first- and second-graders are together, third- and fourth-graders are together, middle-schoolers are together and high-schoolers are together. The students attend school Tuesday through Friday from September through May.
The school has four teachers, including the founders, Catherine Klobe, first- and second-grade, and Laurie Boniarczyk, third- and fourth-grade. Rebecca Weinberger is the middle school teacher, and Margaret Kaye, high school teacher, is an alumna of the school.
Starting in the primary grades, the students focus on the basics in reading, language arts and mathematics. In the intermediate grades, the students continue to grow in these skills as they began to take learning as a personal achievement. In the high school grades, the students have an intense four-year study preparing them and equipping them with the ability to succeed in college.
“By offering the multilevel classrooms, we are able to keep our classroom sizes smaller, and this allows our teachers to work individually with the students and teach to their individual level,” Koralweski said. “This also allows us to seamlessly move the students around, and place them where it makes the most sense.”
Koralweski, who has spent 20 years in the education field, said 98 percent of the students from St. Scholastica HSC Academy attend college, and on occasion, students also have the option for postsecondary enrollment options.
Koralweski said the feedback from St. Elizabeth and the community has been very positive.
“The feedback from the church has been very pleasant, and it’s very nice to hear so many people say they are happy we are here,” Koralweksi said. “I really love working with the parents, all of the teachers, and I have a great secretary. Seeing all of the students in the classrooms makes this place feel like home, and we all become family to each other.”
There are tuition costs to attend St. Scholastica HSC Academy and financial assistance may be available. For more information, visit www.stscholasticahsc.com, call Koralewski at 763-200-9293 or email principal.stscholastica@gmail.com.
