The final chapter
in the book of St. Scholastica Academy’s 111-year legacy has been
written, but a new book is about to be created featuring a new
boarding school.
The St. Scholastica Academy property,
615 Pike Ave., has been sold and the new owners plan to open a
private boarding school, Royal Peak Academy, for co-ed students ages
13 through 18 after the first of the year.
Octwell LLC, a Utah limited liability
company, paid an undisclosed amount for the property located in
northwest Cañon City. The transaction was handled by Dan Molello of
Jones-Healy Realtors of Pueblo, who said the original list price of
$4.5 million was later lowered to $2.5 million.
Dr. Robert Huddleston, managing
partner of Octwell, said the new Royal Peak Academy will provide
employment for 100.
“It is our intention to recruit
students who are seeking an alternative that varies from the
traditional public school setting,” Huddleston said in a statement.
“The curriculum will be self-paced and competency based, and allow
students to work at their own pace under the guidance of certified
teachers.”
Huddleston has 30 years of experience
in public and higher education as a faculty member and administrator
in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. He recently retired as President of
Dixie State College in Utah.
The Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
opened St. Scholastica in 1890 and operated it throughout its
illustrious history. They have mixed feelings about the sale.
“We’re delighted Octwell will use the
property for its best and intended use, which is a boarding school,”
said Prioress Sister Jane Smith, OSB. “It is thrilling to think it
will benefit some high school children and it will be a good benefit
to the city of Cañon City.”
But Smith also said it was hard to
figuratively walk away from the school for the final time.
“We have such a long history in Cañon
City,” Smith said. “The Academy of course is a big piece of our
history, and that is now fading in a sense. It is a very important
piece of history, revered by many members of the community.”
Smith said it was harder to actually
make the decision to close the school in June 2001 than to see the
final sale completed.
“The property has been on the market
for a long time, so in that sense we are glad to be able to sell,”
Smith said. “But since that time, we have been able to get used to
not running the school.”
For more than 100 years, St.
Scholastica Academy provided a focused, college-preparatory
education and preparatory life program for a diverse student body
from across the United States as well as abroad. It boasted a record
of sending 90 percent of its graduates on to college.
The school was put on the market in
2002. The Benedictine Sisters felt compelled to close the doors
be-cause of the diminishing number of active sisters in the order.
St. Scholastica had never been in financial difficulties,
maintaining a strict financial stability and paying cash for even
large construction projects.
Additional buildings and renovations
to existing structures kept the facility in excellent shape
throughout the years, according to Molello.
“Octwell is not going to be doing a
lot of remodeling or anything like that,” Molello said. “They’re
just basically putting it back into operation as a school. It was in
excellent condition to begin with so it doesn’t need much done.”
