St. Augustine Preparatory Academy Raises $2 Million During Annual Gala

More than 750 people gathered to recognize BMO and Mary Ellen Stanek for their long-standing commitment to supporting high-quality education for all.

Milwaukee, May 6, 2022 – St. Augustine Preparatory Academy (Aug Prep), a high-performing K4-12 nondenominational Christian school, announced today it raised $2 million during its annual gala celebration to support the growing reach and impact of Aug Prep. Of the total, $1 million was raised from individual donations with an anonymous donor matching each donation dollar for dollar.

During the event, BMO was recognized with the 2022 Founders Award and Mary Ellen Stanek was the recipient of the 2022 Friends Award for their work as a strong advocates and champions for Aug Prep’s students and the broader Milwaukee educational community.

“It was wonderful to be together again with so many supporters and colleagues who are devoted to the mission and vision of Aug Prep,” said Abby Andrietsch, chief executive officer of Aug Prep. “Despite the challenges of the past two years, the steadfast commitment from our supporter such as BMO, Mary Ellen Stanek, and so many others, are creating the spaces and resources for our scholars to persevere and achieve their highest potential. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, every dollar raised during our gala will be dedicated to driving forward Aug Prep’s mission to develop leaders known by their strength of character, courage, intellect, impactful contributions and their faith.”

The successful gala comes as Aug Prep is pursuing the development of a $49 million school expansion to include an elementary school on its campus on the south side of Milwaukee. The new, 123,000 squarefoot facility will have capacity for 900 K4 through 5th grade students. Designed to emphasize Aug Prep’s four pillars of faith, family, academics, arts/athletics, the new facility include state of the art classrooms and special education spaces along with a full-sized gymnasium, a small gym, a rooftop garden and playground, as well as a performing arts center with seating for 700. In addition, Aug Prep will expand its current space by 5,000 square feet to include larger athletic facilities and a family engagement center, along with updated classrooms. As a result, Aug Prep’s total capacity will grow to serve 2,400 students, which would be the largest single campus school in Milwaukee.

Originally opened with 560 students, in just five years Aug Prep has grown to serve almost 1,500 predominantly low-income students of color. Since its opening, crime in the area has dropped by more than 43 percent, per data from the Milwaukee Police Department.

Aug Prep scholars’ academic performance significantly exceeds expectations, earning it a five star rating – the highest possible – by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. As a result, Aug Prep is in the top 2% of all schools in the city (#6 of 264 total schools) and scores the highest among schools who serve grades K4-12 in the State of Wisconsin.

This spring, Aug Prep will graduate 90 students, almost a third of which will be first generation high school graduates. Despite the pandemic, their ACT growth exceeded the pre-pandemic national average. Collectively, the graduating class received more than 220 acceptances to 4-year colleges and universities and almost $7.4 million in scholarships.

Aug Prep students are accepted on a first come, first serve basis with approximately 8 percent participating in Aug Prep’s special education program. Over 95 percent of students come from minority populations with 87 percent qualifying for the free or reduced-price lunch program.

To learn more about how to support Aug Prep, visit augprep.org.