St. Mary School in German Village renovating school expanding services to community

Second and third grade students held on to their yellow and blue plastic hard hats, smiles lighting their faces as they sang “Can we fix it?” and thrust both arms into the air.

A beat later, a fist pump accompanied their voices shouting, “Yes, we can.”

The students, singing “Bob the Builder,” were standing in the gymnasium of St. Mary School in Columbus' German Village at a ceremonial groundbreaking where school and area officials Monday morning turned dirt over with shiny shovels.

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Work was to begin Tuesday on renovations to the current elementary school building. The project is expected to cost $18 million, with another $2 million planned to go to an endowed scholarship for students. Fundraisers announced they have raised $18.6 million so far.

The existing elementary and middle school buildings house 430 students from preschool through eighth grade. The renovations and new build will allow the school to enroll 500 students total, almost double the number it had five years ago, according to Principal Gina Stull. In the 2015-16 school year, 218 students were attending, according to the fundraising campaign site.

As part of the project, a building neighboring the school that is currently housing the church offices will become home to a Nationwide Children’s Hospital school health center and the Dominican Learning Center, an adult education center run by the Dominican Sisters of Peace. The church offices will move to the rectory.

'Everyone is welcome'

"Today marks the next phase in our campus transformation," Vince Nguyen, pastor of St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church, told the approximately 90 assembled people.

He said later that he hopes the changes at St. Mary School will be an example to others of the welcome they will experience when they encounter God's love.

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To local people, Pastor Nguyen said: "We're here to help and support them to encounter God's love in so many ways. ... Everyone is welcome."

Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus Bishop Earl K. Fernandes hosted a Mass at the church before the groundbreaking ceremony.

"The work we are beginning today should enliven our faith," he said during the ceremony.

A growing community

In the past few years, the school has grown and its student body has changed, with children from 30 different ZIP codes now attending there instead of them primarily coming from the South Side, Stull said.

Today, 90% of students use the state's EdChoice voucher program, which allows children to go to private schools with a scholarship.

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The parish is no stranger to capital improvements, as it went through years of renovations after its historic sanctuary was hit by lightning in August 2016.

Then, in 2020, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus bought the former Golden Hobby shop building at 630 S. Third St. from the city for $1.23 million and turned it into a middle school building for St. Mary School. That same year, the roof on the gymnasium to the elementary school building, which sits on the other side of the church at 700 S. Third St., also was replaced.

The next stage of the school's transformation will add 10,000 square feet of new classroom and learning space, an outdoor play area and a parish hall that will serve as student cafeteria by day. Much of the existing elementary school building hasn't received a major renovation since it was built in 1955, and changes will offer modernization and technology updates.

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The new student health center is about 500 square feet of space that will house a nurse practitioner, therapist and nurse. It is set to open in January and is one of 19 the hospital aims to have open by the end of 2023, according to Mary Kay Irwin, senior director of school health services at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

"We wanted to bring a health center into this community so there's opportunity for children and families to access care outside the walls of a traditional hospital," Irwin said. "The goal is to provide care for children not connected to a pediatrician."

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The center will serve children in the area and enrolled at St. Mary before, after and during school and will offer vaccines to adults. Later, the hope is to bring services for mothers and babies to the center, Irwin said.

The health center, which will also help students manage chronic diseases, will work with school nurses and can also reconnect children to their pediatricians, she said.

"The goal is to minimize nonacademic barriers to learning," Irwin said. "Healthy children learn better."

'Cradle to grave': Adult learning center to move to St. Mary

The Dominican Learning Center, an adult school now based on the South Side at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, will soon move to St. Mary Catholic Church and school, director Denise Hilliard said.

Founded in 1994, the center offers English as a second language, literacy education and GED preparation for adults, she said.

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Mark Butler, director of founded ministries for the Dominican Sisters of Peace, said Nguyen came to the organization with the idea to move the center to German Village and a vision to make St. Mary a hub for comprehensive care for the community. The Dominican Sisters, an order of religious sisters based on Columbus' East Side, were thrilled.

"It's such a bold vision they have," Butler said. "Partnering with Nationwide Children's and creating a one stop place where families can go from the cradle to the grave, kind of all aspects of life. If they need support they can go to St. Mary's and find it there."

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: St. Mary German Village to add health clinic, adult learning center