E DUCATION
Stella Maris Academy
BY CHRISTINA GRAY Lead writer, Catholic San Francisco grayc@sfarch.org
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wo years after the 2019 closure of its more than century-old grammar school, Star of the Sea Parish welcomed 53 students from preschool through eighth grade to the new Stella Maris Academy in August 2021. Head of School Gavin Colvert was hired in 2020 to help pastor Father Joseph Illo realize his dream of transforming the parish school into an academy of classical Catholic liberal arts education. What distinguishes Stella Maris (Star of the Sea) Academy, said Colvert, is that the curriculum “cultivates the full intellectual, moral and spiritual development of young people as whole persons to appreciate beauty, goodness and truth and to act with integrity in life.” Colvert spent his first months doing a feasibility study with Father Illo to determine “whether there would be enough interest to reopen the school” with a classical Catholic curriculum model. They found there was, but initial enrollment would likely be small. His proposal was to start the academy as a K-2 program. COVID-19 had a hand in influencing the trajectory of the school’s development. The parish’s popular preschool, which had continued running after the 2019 closure of the elementary school, temporarily suspended operations in November 2020. Fearful parents caused enrollment to plummet. “When that happened, Father Illo decided we should integrate what we were doing with the
preschool with our efforts to open K-2,” said Colvert. He and his team began speaking with families. What they heard from families was both encouraging and disconcerting. The school size was too limiting, especially to some larger families. “They would tell us, ‘Yes, we are very interested in what you are doing, but we have older children too,’” he said. With Father Illo’s encouragement, the “bold decision” was made in January 2021 to accept applications for preschool through eighth grade. By March 2021, Stella Maris had 25 students enrolled. The Department of Catholic Schools approved opening in August for the 2021-22 academic year. Families slowly began to enroll, right up JANUARY 2022 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
