St. Monica Academy

St. Monica Academy, founded in 2001, is an independent, coeducational school for grades one through 12 located in Pasadena, California. The 163-student school utilizes a classical curriculum and is committed to academic excellence and adherence to Catholic principles, with the goal of forming individuals in faith, reason, and virtue so that they may be leaders in society.

St. Monica Academy is currently leasing space from the local Unitarian Church.  They are required to remove crucifixes from view afterhours, team sports are not allowed on playground, and public signage is prohibited. Even with these challenges, the school’s enrollment has nearly doubled in the last four years, encouraging the school to look into acquiring a campus to call its own.

In November 2009, St. Monica Academy hired Petrus Schools and Churches to perform a feasibility study to determine their ability to raise $12-$15 million to acquire a permanent campus. During a period of three months, Petrus conducted 72 interviews comprised of potential supporters and leadership candidates. The results were very positive with 97% of interviewees rating St. Monica as a good or excellent school, 92% being supportive or strongly supportive of the plan, and 81% ranking St. Monica as a high or medium philanthropic priority. In addition, 87% of interviewees said they would make a gift and 42% indicated a willingness to provide campaign leadership.

After reviewing the overwhelmingly positive response, Petrus Schools and Churches developed a customized plan and recommendations preparing St. Monica Academy to commence a 12- to 18-month campaign beginning summer 2010.

http://www.stmonicaacademy.com/