Capital Campaign Update, September 2025
Dear Families and Friends of SBCA,
At St. Benedict Classical Academy, we believe what the Church teaches so beautifully: healthy things grow. By God’s grace, and through your faithful support, SBCA has indeed grown, flourishing from a handful of students in a single schoolhouse into a vibrant Catholic campus that today forms more than 300 children in faith, wisdom, and virtue.
With the successful conclusion of the 2022 All Things New campaign, which raised approximately $15 million in gifts and was joined by a $10 million loan, we were able to build and move into our beautiful new home. This $25 million effort has given SBCA the stability to strengthen our programs, support our dedicated faculty, and balance our budget while even beginning to reduce our debt. For this, we give thanks to God and to each of you.
And yet, healthy things do not stop growing. SBCA is now fully enrolled, with long waitlists in nearly every grade, and with deep regret, we must turn away families who come to us seeking an authentically Catholic education for their children. With our classrooms expanding, our art room must soon be converted into a homeroom, and our middle school needs additional lab space and gathering areas.
Just after his election, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed that the world needs the Catholic Church. Knowing this is true for the world, all the more so does Massachusetts, and indeed humanity, need SBCA: not merely a school, but a vanguard on the front lines of renewing culture and defending Western civilization through the formation of scholars and saints.
Like the wedding feast at Cana, the Lord has given us “the best wine” in this moment of the Church’s life—but we need new wineskins to contain it. Therefore, we are announcing a new multi-year campaign: “Healthy Things Grow.” Our goal is to raise $15 million to expand our campus and ensure that SBCA can continue to flourish.
This campaign will allow us to:
- Build new classrooms for our students as they grow into middle school.
- Reclaim space for art and music that would otherwise be lost to enrollment growth.
- Welcome more families by reducing the number of children turned away each year.
- Provide a proper athletic field for our students’ play, health, and formation.
- Continue reducing our debt to ensure long-term stability.
To achieve this, we must begin now. Our timeline is ambitious: we need this new building ready for students by September 2027. That means starting design and permitting in the coming months. Our immediate goal is to secure $1 million in commitments by the end of next month, which will allow us to launch the design process. Within the year, we aim to raise an additional $9 million (two-thirds of the campaign) so that construction can begin.
We invite you to prayerfully consider how you might participate, whether through a gift, a pledge, or by introducing us to others who share our vision for Catholic education. Please reach out to John DeMatteo, chairman of the Capital Campaign Committee, at john@parksq.com, if you are able to help in any way. Although our needs are ambitious and timely, please remember that receiving gifts of all sizes is critical to the success of Healthy Things Grow, so if you can give a small gift in the near future, it will be much appreciated and instrumental in expanding our facilities.
Together, and with the intercession of our patron, St. Benedict, we can build not just classrooms, but a legacy of faith, hope, and joy for generations to come.
In Domino,
John DeMatteo
Chairman of the Capital Campaign Committee
