TO MAKE DISCIPLES FOR JESUS AND PASS ON THE CATHOLIC FAITH FOR SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Friends of St. James Academy,
At St. James Academy, while we take great pride in celebrating the academic and athletic achievements of our students, our greatest joy comes from seeing them graduate as faith-filled individuals prepared to make a meaningful impact in the community. The formation they receive here equips them with the confidence to share their faith and create disciples for Jesus. Through daily Mass, student retreats, our community system, and various campus opportunities, we strive to bring the love of Jesus to every student. With a freshman class of 271 this past August, it’s evident that families across the metro area value the exceptional formation and education we provide. We are deeply grateful for your continued support and trust in our mission.
Building on the foundation of our mission established in 2005, the successes of our students continue to reflect the unwavering dedication of our community. St. James Academy consistently excels on the field, court, stage, and in the classroom. Here are a few highlights:
The Class of 2024 earned remarkable achievements, including 22 students (10%) scoring a 30 or higher on the ACT, joining the ranks of our Thunder 30 Club. This class was offered more than $10 million in
scholarships and graduates are attending over 56 schools across the country.
We achieved three more State Championships in Girls Cross Country, Boys Tennis, and Girls Track and Field.
Our Musical, All Shook Up received a school-record 8 Starlight Blue Star Nominations.
Looking ahead, we are excited to share our Mission Forward Campaign—a visionary initiative launched the past year to propel us into the future by supporting key priorities for our campus, students, and families. The St. Joseph Fieldhouse, a multipurpose facility designed to support a variety of athletic and extracurricular activities was completed in August of this year. We recently completed the construction of eight state-ofthe-art tennis courts, offering a fantastic space for athletic growth and competition. Construction has also begun on Marian Stadium, which will include additional
parking to better accommodate our growing community.
Furthermore, we’ve initiated pre-construction work on a Cultural Arts Center, an incredible space needed for our award-winning performing arts students. These additions reflect our commitment to enriching the student experience and supporting their diverse talents and interests.
On behalf of the entire St. James Academy family, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support and generosity. Your prayers, contributions, and involvement empower us to continue fulfilling our mission of forming young people into disciples of Jesus, equipping them to make a meaningful impact in the world.
Lastly, on November 9, 2024, we lost our pioneer, Archbishop James Keleher at the age of 93. Archbishop Keleher created a vision for St. James Academy that began in 2002 with leadership across the Diocese. We opened our doors in
2005 with a mission handed down to us to “Pass on the Catholic Faith to the Next Generation” Archbishop Keleher was always supportive of
His spirit has always been on our campus and will resonate forever.
Catholic Education and wanted to give more young people the opportunity to receive their education from a third high school in Johnson County. The Archbishop spent many all-school masses and long lunches with students over the years. His spirit has always been on our campus and will resonate forever.
Thank you for being a member of our community.
God bless,
Andy Tylicki President, St.
James Academy
ST. JAMES’ NEW FIELDHOUSE IS A ‘GAME
CHANGER’
LESSONS IN PHILOSOPHY
During the 2022-2023 school year, Dr. Rapp and a small team of teachers began exploring the need to teach philosophy to our teachers and our students. Philosophy is the “love of wisdom,” and the four basic branches of philosophy are logic, epistemology, anthropology, and ethics. They dove deep into philosophical texts and researched ways to implement the philosophy into a high school setting. The team created a multi-year plan to grandfather philosophy into all curricula at St. James Academy.
The first step started by getting the faculty on board and learning the basics. In the Summer of 2023, teachers gathered to read excerpts of Beheading Hydra: A Radical Plan for Christians in an Atheistic Age by Fr. Dwight Longnecker, using it as a springboard to understand why, like it or not, engaging philosophical questions is necessary for us to meet the challenges of passing on the faith in our time. The emphasis of professional development for the 2023-2024 school
year was then building our faculty’s philosophy chops, focusing mostly on epistemology, the branch that deals with what we can know and how we can know it (which are important questions in a school setting!). We moved slowly and steadily through complicated texts and ideas, and together we began to see that even the most abstract philosophical ideas have practical implications in our classrooms.
The same lessons the teachers learned were shared with those incoming freshmen, the Class of 2027. During a few of their Seminar classes and a full day on campus during senior retreat, those freshmen also began to learn the basics of epistemology
and why philosophy matters. This experience showed us that the students are not only capable of handling these big questions: they are interested.
This year, a team of teachers has been planning our new sophomore-required Philosophy course to premier in the 2025-2026 school year. Starting with the Class of 2028, all students will be required to take a year of Philosophy.
There are several reasons why God is calling us to learn philosophy, the most important of which is that it leads us to Jesus. As Peter Kreeft writes, “Arguments [reason] can bring you to faith
in the same sense as a car can bring you to the sea. The car can’t swim; you have to jump in to do that. But you can’t jump in from a hundred miles inland. You need a car first to bring you to the point where you can make a leap of faith into the sea. Faith is a leap, but a leap in the light, not in the dark”.
We pray that our efforts, however small or imperfect or halting, can bring our students more fully into the light.
The Catechism tells us, “Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason” (CCC 159). In particular, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself — so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves”
Pope St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio
OUR COMMUNITY, DEEPLY UNITED IN FAITH AND PURPOSE
MISSION FORWARD
In the rich tapestry of our community’s history, Catholic Education stands as a testament to the enduring values and principles that have shaped generations. The legacy of Catholic Education has instilled faith, wisdom, and moral integrity in countless individuals, nurturing not only academic excellence but also the development of compassionate, responsible disciples. To secure this legacy for future generations, St. James Academy embarked on this campaign this year, to help ensure the continued growth and vitality of future disciples.
Mission Forward will fund the construction of a Cultural Arts Center, Stadium, Track & Field Events, and Tennis Courts, facilities that will improve student life and foster a sense of belonging and community spirit. Tennis Court construction was completed fall 2024, the Stadium projects and Track and Field Events are in progress and design development is underway for the Cultural Arts Center as we continue to raise the $12 million needed for this much-needed addition. We will continue our campaign efforts through 2025.
Cultural Arts Center design rendering not final.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
The Generations Board organized several new and fun events, including Breakfast with Santa, an Alumni Mass, a Summer BBQ Competition, and participation in the school’s Golf Tournament. These events brought alumni and their families together for community, celebration, prayer, and friendly competition.
DEDICATED TO DEVELOPING THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF YOUNG PEOPLE
IN LOVING MEMORY OF ARCHBISHOP JAMES P. KELEHER
HIS LOVE OF THE LORD, COMMITMENT AND LEADERSHIP TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD, AND VISION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION WILL BE A GUIDING FORCE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO HIM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM.