St. Nicholas Academy ready to welcome girls
Bishop blesses new residence, greets houseparents and board
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“Peace be with you and all who enter this house!”
Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell called blessing upon blessing down upon St. Nicholas Academy’s newly established residence for girls.
“Jesus alone gives us peace the world cannot give,” the bishop said. “For this house and all who enter, we pray for deep-seated peace, the kind that manifests itself in patience, love and kindness.”
Bishop O’Donnell stood in the foyer of the residence on Tower Drive in Jefferson City, where girls will have their futures transformed.
With him were Darian and Aileen Pruitt, recently appointed houseparents for the residence; Dr. Michaela Newell, executive director of St. Nicholas Academy and housemom for the boys’ residence on Edgewood Drive; Elizabeth Huber, founder of the academy and one of its principal benefactors; and members of the academy’s Board of Directors.
“This house, for its design and purpose, is now raised to a new and unique character for housing and loving students,” the bishop said.
Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt recently moved into the residence with their two daughters and are preparing to welcome two to four students as extended members of their family.
“Things are coming along more quickly than we expected,” said Mrs. Pruitt. “But God keeps showing up and confirming that yes, we made the right decision to take this on. A lot of peace has come with that.”
The bishop soaked the doorposts and lintel of the home’s main entrance, looking out into a bucolic neighborhood.
“This is holy water,” Bishop O’Donnell said. “May God protect this home in a special way.”
Turning to the families gathered, he added with a smile, “And you receive the blessing, too.”
He prayed: “May all the thoughts, words and actions of all who gather here be to the goodness and glory of your name.”
Lofty goals
St. Nicholas Academy (Stnick.org) is a faith-based boarding school in Jefferson City that helps children who are at-risk reach their full potential.
It is an independent 501(c)3 tax-exempt nonprofit organization, governed by a board of directors.
Its mission statement is: “to partner with families to help children reach their full potential in a faith-based, family style, supportive setting.”
Its vision statement is: “to build a future where children are equipped to thrive, pursue their dreams, and lead lives rooted in compassion, service, and love.”
The students attend St. Peter School in Jefferson City and receive an excellent education in a loving, faith-filled family setting.
The academy has been providing such an environment for five boys, currently ages 11 to 16, for the past six years.
All of them have parents or guardians living in or near Jefferson City, as will be the case for the girls.
They spend most of their time at school, at extracurricular activities and in one of the St. Nicholas Academy residences, where they eat, sleep, play, pray and develop life skills.
The academy also includes a year-round program with summer activities that provide many growth-filled experiences.
The houseparents make decisions in consultation with each child’s parents or guardians, along with teachers at St. Peter School and Helias Catholic High School, to help promote stability and success for the child.
It’s a long-term commitment, right up to and beyond when the students graduate from high school.
Dr. Newell said the houseparents also learn from the children, “specifically through their openness and their growth.”
Stronger than fear
Offering these opportunities to girls has been a long-range goal since the academy’s founding.
“It’s very exciting,” Dr. Newell told Bishop O’Donnell. “We want to continue growing and carefully helping these children succeed.”
Mrs. Pruitt grew up in a tight, service-oriented Christian family in Delaware.
She is the ninth of 11 children in her family, the fifth of six sisters.
She came to Missouri to attend a small Bible college in Moberly. The curriculum included a service requirement.
“I ended up working with the children’s ministry at a church in Jefferson City as part of my service hours,” she recalled.
That’s where she met and began working with her future husband, who was overseeing the ministry.
“Coming from a foundation of service and then meeting my husband, who has the same heart for wanting to do what we can to show people that they matter — that’s what brought me here,” she said.
Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt are friends with the Newells and have been praying with them since the Newells became the houseparents for the boys’ residence in 2021.
Earlier this year, the Pruitts prayerfully realized that God was calling them to do what the Newells are doing.
They told Dr. Newell that they wanted to be the houseparents when St. Nicholas Academy opens a residence for girls.
“I’ll admit that there was a little bit of fear,” Mrs. Pruitt recalled. “But greater than fear was the pull toward something that can bring life.”
She and Mr. Pruitt have witnessed much brokenness in the world.
“And I’m not blind to the fact that there will continue to be brokenness,” she stated. “But if we can help create some opportunities and offer even a sliver of light, we’ll be giving God space to heal that brokenness.”
She said too many children are trapped in a survival mentality that keeps them from focusing on the future.
“Creating stability in a loving and compassionate environment allows them to step out of survival mode, to actually think about their Creator and why they were created and the things they enjoy and what they want to do,” she said.
“That can be their foundation as they go out into the world and share it with other people,” she said. “So, it’s something I really want to provide for them.”
Nick of time
Mrs. Huber, a member of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City, founded St. Nicholas Academy with help from dedicated board members and Sister Susan Renner of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who came to Jefferson City to serve as the academy’s first director.
They named it in honor of St. Nicholas of Myra, a fourth-century bishop and patron saint of children.
The idea came from a discussion between Mrs. Huber and a teacher who was frustrated that children with great potential were falling behind because they didn’t have a consistently stable home life.
St. Nicholas Academy’s most powerful engine for success is a family environment where children experience love and structure throughout their day.
That environment allows students to be themselves and thrive in the manner God intends for them.
Mrs. Huber outlined St. Nicholas Academy’s objectives with St. Peter School Principal Gayle Trachsel Ed.D. and asked about sending the children to school there.
Dr. Trachsel answered: “We’re supposed to be missionaries in our own town. You bring us those kids, and we’ll make it work.”
Several teachers at St. Peter said right off that they wanted to have St. Nicholas Academy students in their classes.
Archbishop Shawn McKnight of Kansas City in Kansas, formerly of Jefferson City, blessed the St. Nicholas Academy residence for boys in December 2023.
The boys have achieved success in academics, activities and friendships at St. Peter and have grown in their relationship with God.
Two are scheduled to begin at Helias Catholic High School this fall.
Having found committed houseparents for girls, Mrs. Huber and Dr. Newell began shopping for a suitable residence for them.
They found the perfect place almost immediately.
Mrs. Huber purchased it and set up an agreement for the academy to lease it for $1 a year.
Adding a residence for girls means the academy’s annual budget is increasing by about two-thirds.
The board is confident that people throughout the community will recognize the need and rise to meet it.
Through public school counselors, relevant agencies and word of mouth, St. Nicholas Academy is slowly being made known to families who could benefit from what it offers.
Meanwhile, the Pruitts are getting settled in and preparing for the girls who will come.
The couple are working to make the communal spaces in the house warm, welcoming and calm.
“And praying that when these spaces are used, it will truly be home for them,” said Mrs. Pruitt.
Looking ahead
Several people at the house blessing described the kind of adults they’re working to form through St. Nicholas Academy.
“I’m hoping that they have confidence in themselves,” said Mrs. Huber. “I want them to have friends. I want them to understand themselves as spiritual beings and feel confident going to the Lord in prayer.”
“I want them to be playful and learned,” said Dr. Newell. “I want them to be confident in school.”
“And confident in who they are and who they are created to be,” Mrs. Pruitt added, “so that going out into the world, they have passion for life and to be light.”
She spoke of them also being creative and rooted in joy — “even though brokenness will continue to happen and life is hard, that they’ll be able to see and appreciate beauty and the joyous parts of life.”
In God’s hands
Bishop O’Donnell reminded everyone that an important part of doing God’s work is letting go of the outcome.
“We listen to the Lord, do all we can with generosity, and entrust the rest to the Holy Spirit,” Bishop O’Donnell said.
Dr. Newell asked for prayers for the Pruitts as they prepare to welcome girls into the house on Tower.
“They’re going to need to have a lot of patience with one another as they enter this new stage,” Dr. Newell stated from experience. “So long as their marriage is strong, God will make everything else fall in place.”
She also suggested praying for the girls who will soon enter the community — “for them to be accepted and loved where they’re at and to be thoroughly graced.”
Prayers also for the parents and guardians of the children, who will be working in partnership with St. Nicholas Academy.
“We’re asking a lot of them,” said Dr. Newell. “We’re asking them to love their children so much that they agree to be co-parents with people they haven’t met yet, to let go of them in a very Christ-like manner.”
Mrs. Pruitt asked prayers for guidance, “so that when we are faced with challenges, our response will come from what God has put within us.”
Mrs. Huber said she’d love to see St. Nicholas Academy expand to other parts of the diocese.
“That’s the real dream,” she said, “that each parish with a school says, ‘let’s do this.’”
