Capital Campaign Update, February 2023

Table of contents

Share Post

Dear SBCA Community,

I pray this exciting announcement finds you well. On Wednesday night our Board of Trustees, Capital Campaign Committee, and I updated our school community on the progress of the St. Benedict Classical Academy All Things New Campaign for our Permanent Home. (You will find Wednesday evening’s remarks of our SBCA Board of Trustees President, Dan Bachiochi, below.) We are thrilled to announce that we will be breaking ground on our new campus this spring! We anticipate beginning the 2024-2025 academic year in our permanent home at 89 Union Street, located just a mile up the road from our current schoolhouse.

There is so much to celebrate and for which to be thankful – Our Lord continues to humble and amaze us with His generosity. Given that fact, the increase in cost to this project, which has risen dramatically over the last three years, does not deter us, but deepens our resolve and reminds us that we must walk by faith and not by sight. What we hoped would be a $12 million capital campaign to begin building our new campus is now a $25 million capital campaign to complete the project. Through the abundant generosity of our unflappable benefactors, we have already secured $18 million towards that goal. We will continue our efforts to reach our new $25 million campaign goal, even as we break ground, to ensure that we can complete the full scope of phases 1A and 1B of the building project (this includes our main academic building as well as our assembly hall and all classroom spaces).

Much work lies before us. As stated at our event, we ask not whether you would like to support us in order that we might move forward, but whether or not you would like to be a part of this great endeavor, which commences this spring! Please reach out to me if you would like to know more about how you can join us in ensuring the success of the All Things New Campaign for our Permanent Home or campus building project. I look forward to sharing more news in the coming weeks and months.

Deo gratias!

Jay Boren
Headmaster

– – Dan Bachiochi, President of the SBCA Board of Trustees, February 15th. 2023, Remarks – –

Good evening Friends of St. Benedict Classical Academy,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees of SBCA, I thank you for joining us tonight for this exciting evening. We have all been looking forward to a night like this for a long time.I want to start by sharing a small but significant event with you that happened this week. While I was putting together these remarks, I received a text from our eldest daughter, Anna, who is studying in Rome. It is worth noting that she is the only Bachiochi to not benefit from a Saint Benedict education…

Her text read, “Hey Dad, just wanted you to know that I am at the Tomb of Saint Benedict right now and I am praying for you and for Saint Benedict Classical Academy!” Beyond this being a proud parenting moment for us, it also is a reminder of how we’ve gotten to this moment in time. Ora et Labora. In this case, her prayer and my work. But this example is just one small sample of many instances of this pattern throughout this community over the past 10 years leading up to tonight’s announcement.

As most of you are aware, a few years ago, thanks to our generous benefactors, we were able to acquire the 13-acre Winona Farm property down the road here in Natick. Since then, I know we’ve all been dreaming of the possibilities of what could be on that property.

In the meantime we had a global pandemic – but behind the scenes, the school community, the administration and the Board have been dedicated to prayer and work to realize this dream.

Through the persevering leadership of the Board of Trustees in partnership with our Headmaster, Jay Boren, this dream has fastidiously been transformed into concrete plans and the project has been brought to the brink of construction.

Here is a summary of our team’s accomplishments thus far:

– Created a long-term master site plan for the Winona property
– Secured beautiful architecture drawings and building plans for multiple phases of the campus building project
– Acquired the necessary permitting from the town of Natick
– Garnered support of our Winona neighbors
– Received bids for construction with cost estimates and timelines from contractors

All the while we have been simultaneously working to raise the necessary capital to begin the building process.

Tonight, I have been entrusted with the great honor and pleasure of announcing to you all that we have succeeded in raising the capital to immediately begin the construction of our new home!

Some particularly generous benefactors have made this possible, and have asked to be anonymous. We are deeply grateful to all who stepped up with leadership gifts that awed us. Thank you. You know who you are.

Here are the facts that we have to share right now:

– Our goal is to start the 2024-2025 school year in the new building. (I know Mr. Boren is probably the most pleased with this news…)
– We will be starting the building process immediately.
– We have enough capital now to build Phase 1A (main building).
– We need your help to raise the necessary funds to also complete Phase 1B (assembly hall with additional classrooms).
– We will have a Ceremonial Ground Breaking that will take place in the coming months.

To repeat and clarify, the Board of Trustees is taking a bold step forward here. We are trusting in Providence to provide — as He always has with Saint Benedict Classical Academy. We will keep on with the prayer and the work. We are beginning construction, but do not yet have all the funds necessary to complete Phase 1B.One thing I want to draw your attention to are the differences between Phase 1A and Phase 1B. Phase 1A is large enough to house approximately 60% of our current student population. In order to have the capacity for all of the students at our new building as well as to meet future demand, this will require building Phase 1B as well. In addition to more classrooms, Phase 1B also has an indoor assembly space for the entire school. Building both Phase 1A and Phase 1B at the same time will save us about 20% of the cost of Phase 1B, so now is the time to build both.

To date we have raised, through philanthropy and other financing, over 70% of the capital needed to fund both Phase 1A and Phase 1B. To be specific, we have access to $18M of the $25M needed to complete 1A and 1B. This is truly an amazing accomplishment. Thank you to all of you who have given your talent and treasure to make this happen.

Let’s enjoy this moment in time together tonight. And then let’s get back to work and close the remaining gap. Let us, most importantly, give thanks to God who has drawn us all here for this moment and for his amazing generosity allowing us to participate in building what He has planned for Saint Benedict Classical Academy.