St. Benedict's Episcopal Day School Reaches Milestones in Capital Campaign

From St. Benedict’s Epsicopal Day School

In just six years, St. Benedict’s Episcopal Day School has made an incredible impact on the community in and around Smyrna. Over 380 students currently attend St. Benedict’s in preschool through seventh grade. Now a few weeks into the 2014-2015 school year, the leadership of the school is pleased to announce several important milestones.

An ongoing capital campaign, The Next Chapter, has raised over $855,000; that includes having raised the funds necessary to meet a $100,000 challenge pledge from an anonymous donor. Money raised through The Next Chapter was used to finish out the interior construction in the middle school building including five remaining classrooms, flex-space for meetings and other activities, offices and additional bathrooms and will continue to be used in support of school-wide technology and enhancements. The fundraising campaign will continue through the current school year and will be supplemented with annual campaigns in the coming years.

Says school headmaster, Rick Betts, “St. Benedict’s has almost tripled enrollment since opening in 2009. We have our first seventh grade class this year and look forward to adding eight grade next year. St. Benedict’s is clearly meeting an educational need in the community and we are grateful to our neighbors and the families of our students for their support.”

The continued growth and expansion of St. Benedict’s has lead to the creation of several new staff positions and administration roles including an Athletic Director. Daniel Murphy joins the school this year serving as a second Physical Education teacher as well as Athletic Director. Murphy will help create and oversee the school’s middle school athletic program, which begins this school year with boys and girls cross country teams for both sixth and seventh grades. Sports under consideration for future years include baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming, and others.

Photo: Daniel Murphy, new coach and athletic director at St. Benedict’s (Credit: St. Benedict’s Episcopal Day School)