WEST PALM BEACH | After achieving a 25-year strategic goal in 2023 by acquiring all properties between Seventh and Eighth streets east of Olive Avenue, Rosarian Academy kicked off the public phase of its Centennial Capital Campaign May 1, with a May crowning, ribbon-cutting and blessing of the new Stockard Learning Center.
The May crowning and rosary in the school gymnasium was led by Father Brian King, school chaplain, and Adrian Dominican Sisters Mary Therese Napolitan and Judith Rimbey, with hundreds of students, parents and community members joining in.
Parents and guests then gathered outside the learning center, where Linda Trethewey, head of school, Nick Coleman, chairman of the campaign, Nicholas Coniglio, board chairman, Shaun McGruder, past board chairman, and Palm Beach Mayor Danielle Hickox Moore, an alum, parent and benefactor, cut the ribbon. Father King blessed a new statue of St. Dominic and the building prior to everyone being able to tour the new classrooms.
“We are very honored and thankful to our donors who have given of their time, their talent and their treasure,” Trethewey said. “They have given to our capital campaign and allowed us to expand. This new Stockard Learning Center is a tribute to not only the Fortin Foundation, Lesly Smith and Dani Moore, but we also have so many foundations and families that have been here over the years that have come back and given to Rosarian Academy to allow us to make this part of the future.”
Taking ownership of the city block surrounding the school, Rosarian’s board, campaign committee and the community at large began developing a phased plan to add classrooms and increase capacity. The event celebrated the completion of the project’s first phase.
“We’ve been running a capital campaign quietly,” said Coleman, parent to Annabelle (class of 2026) and Wynne (class of 2028). “We’re nearly 70% of the way complete. We have a long way to go, but the school has been super-supportive. The faculty and staff and community have been wonderful.”
The Stockard Learning Center, which includes 10 new classrooms with new playgrounds, is scheduled to open for the 2024-25 school year. The space allows Rosarian to expand its Montessori preschool program with the addition of a Toddler House classroom, serving 2- to 3-year-olds, and a Children’s House classroom, for 3- to 5-year-olds.
Moore, who serves as president of the Mary Alice Fortin Foundation and is a longtime supporter of the independent Catholic school in West Palm Beach, named the learning center after her mother and president of the Fortin Foundation, Lesly Stockard Smith.
“The academic experience at Rosarian really is very special, and it’s a family affair,” said Moore (class of 1981) and parent to Leslie (class of 2023) and Alexandra (class of 2024). “I see friends that I graduated with, and we have lunch together all the time. We’re actually a better class now and closer friends than we were in 1981, and I think these students and these families experience the same thing.”
Enrollment at Rosarian Academy is at an all-time high, especially for the Montessori preschool program. Trethewey said current enrollment stands at about 450 students. With the additional classrooms, the school anticipates increasing enrollment to 480 students with a capacity of 500.
Included in the next phases of the school’s plans are a revamping of athletic fields, adding a regulation-size grass field for interscholastic sports, relocating the turf field and adding outdoor basketball courts.
For more information on the school, visit www.rosarian.org or call 561-345-3106.
