As St. Augustine Preparatory Academy works to fine-tune the design of its northside campus at the former Cardinal Stritch University in Glendale and Fox Point, Aug Prep president and CEO Abby Andrietsch said construction on the $100 million project could begin as early as October. “We have a high-level master plan completed, and we’re spending the
As St. Augustine Preparatory Academy works to fine-tune the design of its northside campus at the former Cardinal Stritch University in Glendale and Fox Point, Aug Prep president and CEO Abby Andrietsch said construction on the $100 million project could begin as early as October.
“We have a high-level master plan completed, and we're spending the next couple months doing a detailed schematic design with our construction and architecture partners,” Andrietsch said. “The design development will then continue really into and through September, but we anticipate going out to bid for the project in the September timeframe with construction starting in October.”
A K4-12th grade private Christian voucher school located on the south side of Milwaukee, Aug Prep was co-founded in 2017 by Becky and Gus Ramirez, chairman of Waukesha-based manufacturer Husco International. Aug Prep now has more than 1,800 students, and last year opened a new 123,000-square-foot elementary school on its campus.
After Cardinal Stritch shut down operations last spring, the campus was purchased by the Ramirez Family Foundation in July for $24 million, with plans to convert it into a north campus for Aug Prep.
Fundraising
Ramirez initially estimated renovations and improvements to the former Cardinal Stritch campus’ grounds and 12 buildings would cost between $8 million and $10 million. In October of last year, Andrietsch said the renovations and improvements to the campus would likely cost closer to $25 million. But just a few months later, in February, school officials said they now planned to invest $100 million in the project – a figure that includes the $24 million purchase price.
The Ramirez family and Husco have committed $75 million in the initial phase at Aug Prep North. Aug Prep is currently fundraising for the remaining $25 million. About $6 million has already been pledged to the effort, Andrietsch said Tuesday, and the hope is to have another $10 million-$15 million raised by the end of this summer, with the full $25 million accounted for by the time the north campus opens in fall 2026.
“As much as we have shared our goals, we're still mostly in the quiet phase, so we haven't done a big public appeal. That will come later in the process. We're at the point right now of meeting with current and potential new major supporters and at the very front end,” she said.
The school hopes to release renderings of the new buildings around the time of its annual gala in May.
Site plan
The updated plans for Aug Prep North now include significant new construction, along with some renovation and upgrades to existing buildings.
An assessment of the former Cardinal Stritch campus’s buildings determined that the costs for renovation far exceeded what was viable for older building structures, school officials said. As a result, several existing buildings — many of which date back to the 1960s — will be demolished to make way for the construction of new facilities. The existing gym, library, campus center and fine arts building, which includes an auditorium, will undergo renovations while the remainder of the buildings will be torn down.
“There's a campus center that includes the gym, the current library, a small auditorium, and what was a café – that's going to become expanded into a cafeteria and we're going to build a smaller footprint than what was there. It will be more efficient and effective for us to best serve our kids,” Andrietsch said.
[caption id="attachment_564962" align="alignleft" width="300"] Abby Andriestsch[/caption]
The Aug Prep North campus plans include classrooms, STEM labs, music and fine arts spaces as well as athletics facilities including a new fieldhouse, a turf soccer field, and an outdoor track. The campus will also include facilities for college and career readiness, and health care.
Demolition work, which started last fall with the razing of dormitory buildings, will likely continue through most of the summer, Andrietsch said.
The new campus is planned to open in fall 2026 with just over 300 students in grades K4-6th and 9th with plans to grow to serve 1,000-plus students in grades K4-12.
Beyond the initial investment, Aug Prep says it envisions a second phase in the future which would eventually build capacity to reach 2,000-plus students.
Pewaukee-based VJS Construction Services has been appointed the general contractor with Milwaukee-based Eppstein Uhen Architects serving as the project’s architect.
Outreach
As contractors, engineers, and architects work to develop the facilities that will house Aug Prep North, Andrietsch said school leaders are already reaching out to stakeholders on the north side in an effort to engage them in the project and new school community.
And while that includes, local governments, school leaders, and official community organizations, like Rotary clubs and chambers of commerce, it also involves going out into north side and north shore neighborhoods and speaking with residents not just about the opportunities that will be available to them at the new school, but also about what their community needs.
One of the goals Ramirez has said he hopes to achieve with Aug Prep North is a student body that is more diverse both racially and economically, and that includes both lower-income students that will receive state-funded vouchers to attend the new school, as well as those whose families make enough to pay tuition. Aug Prep’s south side campus is predominantly made up of lower-income voucher students.
“One of the hires that we made was a second director of outreach. Her focus is for us to build community and relationships within the multiple communities on the north side and the north shore of Milwaukee,” Andrietsch said. “Our focus is on building trust and real relationships. We don't want to approach this from a transactional standpoint. We want to build genuine community. One of the silver linings of the change in the construction timeline is it gives us another year to really build community.”
