The consortium, Ascension Catholic Academy, was created in 2016 with major support from the GHR Foundation, founded by commercial real estate developer Gerald Rauenhorst and his wife, Henrietta. The pair, in life and in death, have applied much of their philanthropy to supporting Catholic education.
The foundation, now run by their daughter, Amy Goldman, sought in 2015 to establish a new model for funding Catholic schools.
As membership at urban Catholic parishes has dwindled and grown increasingly diverse, their ability to financially support their associated schools has diminished. The Ascension model relies heavily on philanthropists and corporate donors as well as individuals, who altogether cover around 95 percent of the cost of running Ascension’s schools.
Families at the consortium’s three schools – St. Peter Claver in St. Paul and Ascension and St. John Paul II in Minneapolis – all pay something to attend, but it’s little relative to the schools’ overall costs.
“New models were going to be needed … in order to sustain and make viable urban Catholic schools,” said Patricia Stromen, the consortium’s president. “GHR has a long history of supporting urban Catholic schools and wanting them to have excellence education and be sustainable.”
By joining the consortium, St. Pascal offloads administrative duties, such as human resources, accounting, marketing, communications and fundraising.
[italics added] No vouchers. Good idea.