St. Augustine Preparatory Academy has named Abby Andrietsch, former executive director of Schools That Can Milwaukee, as its chief executive officer.
Andrietsch has led Aug Prep since June as interim president. She previously founded and led Schools That Can, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit organization that focused on recruiting, training and coaching principals and school administrators, from 2010 until leaving the organization ahead of its merger with Partners Advancing Values in Education (PAVE) in 2018.
Gus Ramirez, Andrietsch’s father and chairman of Waukesha-based Husco International, founded Aug Prep in 2017. The Ramirez family gave $40 million to open the $50 million school campus, which is located in Milwaukee’s Lincoln Village neighborhood on the south side.
Andrietsch takes the helm as the school prepares for a $30 million campus expansion project in response to its growing enrollment. The school plans to build a new 111,000-square-foot building next to its existing 225,000-square-foot building at 2607 S. 5th St.
This fall, Aug Prep student enrollment grew 49% year-over-year, for a total of about 1,300 students in kindergarten through 11th grade.The expansion is expected to accommodate another 700 to 900 students.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve the families of Aug Prep for the past six months,” Andrietsch said. “I couldn’t be more excited about the work ahead, which will allow us to reach even more children.”
The multi-denominational Christian school participates in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, and enrolls students from every Milwaukee zip code. The current facility includes an Olympic-sized indoor pool and turf soccer field. As part of the school’s curriculum, all students receive swim lessons.
Prior to her work with Schools That Can, Andrietsch held executive positions at Husco International and the Doris & Donald Fisher Fund.
“Abby has done an excellent job as president the last six months, making it completely clear she is the best person to serve our school community into the future,” said Dan Johnson, president of Wisconsin Lutheran College and Aug Prep board member.“Abby’s level of executive and financial development expertise,and her spiritual maturity, are what’s needed to achieve our ambitious and multifaceted goals on behalf of Aug Prep’s students and their families.”
