Villa Joseph Marie announces $6 million capital campaign in support of STEAM expansion
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
The Holland-based Villa Joseph Marie may be marking the 86th year since its founding by the Sisters of St. Casimir, but the private Catholic college-preparatory high school for girls is staying on the cutting edge of education.
On Sunday, March 2, the school made public its most ambitious fundraising campaign to date. Through “Founded in Faith. Fulfilling the Mission,” Villa is aiming to raise $6 million for a three-part expansion project, which includes a state-of-the-art auditorium, enhanced STEAM programming, and increased availability of financial aid.
To date, $3.4 million has been raised, with much help coming from the Sisters of St. Casimir.
“They started by giving us a $1 million donation. They kind of got the ball rolling,” said Erica Franzzo, communications and public relationships manager at Villa. “Since then, we’ve raised $2.4 million just from the Villa community.”
In addition to the $6 million goal, the school is utilizing a $1 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant, which was recently awarded to Villa by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In December 2017, it also received a $500,000 state grant to redevelop the first floor of the North Wing of St. Joseph’s Hall on the school’s campus.
The first phase of “Founded in Faith. Fulfilling the Mission” — the auditorium — is slated for completion this summer, prior to the 2019–2020 school year. The state-of-the-art, 600-seat space, according to Franzzo, is expected to be the “most well-equipped performing arts space between Philadelphia and Princeton.”
The auditorium will feature removable front row seats for a larger orchestra/band pit; a theatrical rigging system for ease in movement of scenery, props, lighting, stage effects, and even people; acoustic paneling to allow for evenly distributed sound travel throughout the space; an Epson laser LCD projector and screen with 4K enhancement for large venue productions; and a “Sacred Space” to meet the spiritual needs of the community.
“We’ve never had an auditorium. We’ve only ever had a gym. Any Mass that we had, we just set up chairs in our gym, so that’s why this is such a big deal for us,” she said. “Our gym had a stage, but the stage in the new auditorium is about three times larger. So it’s a big, big difference.”
Villa boasts a strong fine arts curriculum, offering dance, theater and chorus for its 400 students. Now, the teens will have a proper venue in which they can showcase their talents.
“It’s so positive because I think they’ve always felt that our fine arts program has fostered confidence in them to really push them to be their best and do everything they want to do,” Franzzo said. “I think the auditorium will just be that physical representation of all of their hard work in a physical form.”
The auditorium will also provide a venue for community meetings and programs, freeing up the gym for Villa’s athletics programs when they require practice, game and tournament space.
Architectural plans are in the process of being drawn up for the second phase of “Founded in Faith. Fulfilling the Mission.” In an expansion of its classroom space, Villa is preparing to build a new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) wing, which is expected to feature an innovation lab, technology makerspace, and full media center. In constructing the wing, Villa is aiming to promote student engagement and collaborative learning, all while enhancing its curricular offerings and maintaining small class sizes.
“It’s just going to allow us to incorporate more technology into the school and into the classroom, and for the students to have a really hands-on space to further that knowledge,” Franzzo said.
Though this phase is still in the “blueprint stage” and won’t get fully underway until the auditorium is finished, a number of aspects are basically set in stone.
“It’s definitely going to have a section for dance, a section for fine arts, a section for performing arts. It’s going to encompass everything that’s involved with STEAM,” Franzzo said. “As soon as the focus gets off of the auditorium, which will be right at the end of the summer, we will be moving forward with that.”
The third phase of “Founded in Faith. Fulfilling the Mission” will include increased availability of financial aid and growth of the endowment, which will allow Villa to attract and retain the most academically-focused students, regardless of their financial circumstances, ultimately making a Villa education more accessible.
The school’s president, Thomas A. Kardish, remarked that the expansion “will allow us to fulfill our mission to provide all the challenges, resources, and encouragement necessary to enable young women to be confident leaders, productive global citizens, and lifelong learners.” ••
Villa Joseph Marie High School is located at 1180 Holland Road. For more information and to donate to “Founded in Faith. Fulfilling the Mission,” visit vjmhs.org or call 215–357–8810.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected]
