More than 700 community and business leaders attended a fundraiser on Tuesday for St. Augustine Preparatory Academy, raising $600,000 in scholarships for students to attend the new private school on Milwaukee’s south side. Â
The school, located at the 2607 S. Fifth St., was founded by Gus Ramirez, chairman of Waukesha-based Husco International. The $53 million facility opened this fall and serves about 650 students.
Augustine Prep plans to gradually increase enrollment each year until 2020-’21, when it expects to enroll about 1,700 students of all grade levels. Once capacity is reached, school officials are considering a facility expansion to accommodate 1,200 more students.
“My family, along with our faculty and staff, are driven by a deeply held belief in the transformative power high-quality education has on both people and communities,” Ramirez said. “We are blessed and grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support our students are receiving from our community. Together, along with our families and community partners, we are creating a new model for education and aspire to be nothing less than one of the highest performing urban schools in the country.”
