On Wednesday, August 19, Holy Rosary Academy gathered parents, alumni, benefactors, students, and civic leaders to bless and dedicate our new campus at 1846 East 64th Avenue.
A Community Gathered
Under an August sky, the ceremony began in front of the school’s new home with a song from the Upper School choir and an opening prayer.
Guests included Kathleen McArdle, President and CEO of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Nolan Klouda, representing Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and the Municipality of Anchorage, representatives from the Alaska Department of Education, and the Knights of Columbus of Our Lady of the Snows Council, led by Worthy Grand Knight Manny Lazado.
U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, a lifelong Catholic and a graduate of Catholic schools, delivered the keynote address.
“I understand the profound role a Catholic education plays in shaping and forming young minds.”
U.S. Senator Dan S. Sullivan
Room to Grow
The new campus sits on four acres framed by southern wetlands and includes a gymnasium, giving the Academy room for its athletic programs for the first time. It replaces the Fireweed campus, which served Holy Rosary Academy for more than 35 years.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees Jim Dixon traced the school’s path from its beginnings as a homeschool effort among a handful of Anchorage parents, through the move to Fireweed, to this new campus.
“This campus is not a finish line. It is a launchpad.”
Jim Dixon, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
The Altar at the Center
For Principal Marie-Louise Schirda, the heart of the new campus is deeply rooted in the school’s history and our faith.
“At the center of it all remains our faith. Our original altar, built by Paul Hickel, anchors our past and makes our future path steady, intentional, and focused on Christ.”
Marie-Louise Schirda, Principal
The altar has been relocated from the Fireweed campus and will serve the chapel now taking shape in the new building.
That work belongs to Hickel Construction and Engineering, owned by brothers Peter Hickel and Vernon Hickel, Jr.. Their crew reshaped this building for the Academy, opening up the lunchroom, hanging the mosaic on the Founder and Donor Wall, and restoring the altar for the chapel now under construction. Their brother, Paul Hickel, who built the original altar decades ago, guided the design of both spaces. This new campus looks and feels like Holy Rosary Academy because of their work.
What This Campus Makes Possible
Holy Rosary Academy assists parents, the primary educators of their children, in forming students in faith, reason, and virtue through a classical education in the Roman Catholic tradition. That mission has not changed since parents founded the school in 1987. What has changed is the room to carry that mission out.
Classes began in this building on August 18. Upper School students now have a dedicated science lab for the first time, the choir that opened the ceremony has a classroom of its own, physical education has moved indoors, and the new chapel is taking shape upstairs.
There is room here now. Room to grow, and room for your family.