Financially Independent South Hills Catholic Academy To Open For 2021-2022 School Year

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A new option for Catholic education is coming to the Pittsburgh region.

The newly-announced South Hills Catholic Academy will open for enrollment in January 2021 for the 2021-2022 academic year.

The academy is independent of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese and funded by a group of lay people, but does have the endorsement of Bishop David Zubik.

Officials say the school is founded on these three pillars:

• Ensuring that a Catholic education is accessible to all children in the southern region of Pittsburgh, especially the growing immigrant population and those of modest means.
• Preparing students for higher education through a curriculum built on the foundation of a Traditional education.
• Providing a rich spiritual formation with a vibrant sacramental and devotional life at the center of the school mission.

The school is aligned with the "On Mission for The Church Alive" program, which is a reorganization initiative by the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese aimed at rejuvenating the church locally.

The school will serve students from preschool through eighth grade.

It will be a "financially independent non-profit organization, governed by a board of directors, and supported by South Hills benefactors and modest tuition revenues."

For more information on the school, visit this link.

Also in the South Hills, the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese Monday announced the name of a new elementary school resulting from the merger of St. Anne, St. Bernard, Our Lady of Grace, and St. Thomas More schools.

The school will be called Ave Maria Academy when the merger takes effect on July 1, 2020. This one is affiliated with the Pittsburgh Diocese.