MILWAUKEE — St. Augustine Preparatory Academy, a K4-12 Christian school, is investing $100 million into the former Cardinal Stritch University campus to transform it into a new Aug Prep campus.
Cardinal Stritch closed in 2023.
The $100 million price tag includes the initial $24 million cost of property acquisition.
Gus and Becky Ramirez co-founded Aug Prep. The Ramirez family and Husco, a benefactor of Aug Prep, said they will commit to investing $75 million into the project.
The new campus will be called Aug Prep North. The school said it plans to renovate and upgrade some of the campus’ existing buildings, as well as embark on “significant new construction” projects.
The campus’ gym, library, campus center and fine arts building are all set to undergo renovations. All other buildings will be demolished.
“Following the announcement of the Ramirez family’s acquisition of the former Cardinal Stritch University campus for $24 million in July 2023, an assessment of the campus’s buildings determined that the costs for renovation far exceeded what was viable for older building structures. As a result, several existing buildings — many of which date back to the 1960s — will be demolished to allow for the construction of new facilities that foster a robust learning environment,” Aug Prep leaders explained in a statement.
VJS Construction Services will be the general contractor on the project; EUA will be the architect.
The new campus will include state-of-the art classrooms, STEM labs, music and fine arts spaces, college and career readiness facilities and health care facilities. New athletics facilities will include a fieldhouse, a turf soccer field and an outdoor track.
“We know that providing a rigorous academic experience while serving the whole child — mind, body and soul — will open doors to develop our students into future leaders,” said Abby Andrietsch, CEO of Aug Prep. “Our students across Milwaukee are full of limitless potential. It is our job to help them unlock that potential. I cannot wait to see the impact our students will have on our community, our state and our world when we have hundreds of Aug Prep students graduating every year.”
Aug Prep North is set to open in fall 2026. That timeline is new, and was updated after building and campus assessments were completed.
Initially, the school expects to enroll just over 300 students in grades K4 to 6, as well as 9th grade. Eventually, Aug Prep North could serve more than 1,000 students in K4-12th grade.
Aug Prep said there are talks of investing even more into the campus in a future second phase, which could increase capacity to over 2,000 students.
The school’s founding campus — also known as Aug Prep South — originally enrolled 560 students. Now, there are more than 1,800 students enrolled at Aug Prep. Aug Prep South is expected to increase capacity to more than 2,400 students over the next three years.
Most of Aug Prep’s students are low-income kids of color. The south campus is housed on the South Side of Milwaukee. Aug Prep said its north campus will be “diverse by design.”
“We didn’t build Aug Prep to be a great school for students on Milwaukee’s south side. We built it to be a great school for all students, regardless of geography, income or zip code,” said Andrietsch. “We want to build a school community that represents the world we live in, where our children learn with and from each other, ultimately becoming better friends, better teammates, better employees and better citizens.”
The school plans to fundraise an additional $25 million for Aug Prep North. During the first weeks of the campaign, the school has secured $5.5 million.
“We firmly believe that a high-quality education is the single most important factor resulting in economic prosperity and career options,” Gus Ramirez said. “This fall, we encountered and grappled with unexpected, significant additional costs for the project. At the end of the day, we remain deeply committed to the vision and promise of this school. Our primary goal is to create opportunities for Milwaukee youth to develop into impactful men and women whose values and faith set them apart. We have faith that the community will invest with us to support this project and its mission.”
Aug Prep will release additional details on its new campus throughout the year.
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