Getting to know Lower Mills’ Saint John Paul II Academy

By Juan Perfetti

The Latin Catholic Church -besides being a religion- is the largest non-profit NGO in the world, providing food, health, and education across all continents, with more than 7,000 schools and almost 2 million students in the United States alone.

In 2008, under the direction of Archbishop of Boston Cardinal Seán O’Malley, some Dorchester Catholic schools were merged into the Saint John Paul II Academy, with 1,250 students and three campuses (Columbia, Neponset, Lower Mills) is the largest Catholic school in New England.

The academy offers education from preschool to 8th grade that “encourages” students to grow “in faith and knowledge in a safe, nurturing, structured and culturally diverse environment.” The curriculum helps students develop the “essential skills” to become “productive, responsible global citizens and positive young men and women who possess a love of God,” according to the school website.

The school statistics are quite impressive: students represent 50 countries (the majority are children of immigrants from Latin America, Cape Verde, and Vietnam), 23 different languages spoken at home, 100% of grade 5 students play the violin, 49% receive financial aid, and an estimate of 30% of students are not Catholics. Not to mention that nationwide 99% of students who attend Catholic Schools graduate, and 86% participate in 4-year colleges, according to the National Catholic Educational Association.

Building relationships in Lower Mills

At Lower Mills campus, located in the same building used by Saint Gregory’s school before the merge, we were welcomed by its director Lisa Warshafsky, who gave us a tour through all the facilities and showed us first-hand the different activities the school offers to its students.

Warshafsky graduated from Boston College with a Master’s in Social Work, has 28 years of experience working with youth, and started in the academy as a guidance counselor just when the merger happened.

Every school day all the Academy’s 1,250 students “set the tone of the day” at 7:30 a.m. by praying together, Warshafsky explains.

In a city that (from some perspectives) looks divided and segregated, the Academy sets a contrast tough to hide, and talking about it makes Principal Warshafsky show her passion. Ethnicity, race, equity, and other social issues that affect the community are an “all the time” conversation in the school, and the strategy used to address it is simple: to see everyone as a “child of God.”

One of the most important annual events is the Academy’s “Heritage Night” where students perform different dances, songs, traditional clothing, and food to celebrate the diversity of their families’ ancestries.

Talking about Dorchester Warshafsky sees a “very, very beautiful community,” and states that the “strength of our school and our community are not isolated entities.”

For that reason, the Academy is exceptionally effective in building relations with “community partners” such as local businesses, police and fire departments, and public officials. Through these partnerships, students get to know the community from the early stages while empowering solutions to give back; for example, the blessing bags for people experiencing homelessness.

But there is no smooth path for all these efforts to build a better community.

The Academy struggles with overall costs, receiving a tuition income per student estimated at $2,500 less than the actual expense, needing to collect donations from benefactors, and raising funds by themselves.

For more information about Saint John Paul II Catholic Academy Lower Mills campus, I would like to invite you to visit their website and follow them on their social media accounts: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

By the way, the Academy offers weekly open houses for those interested.