VASJ's enrollment continues to grow

 “It is a great time to be a Viking,” says Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School Principal David Csank . And the numbers explain why.

VASJ’s 2015-16 enrollment is the largest it has been in nearly a decade, school administrators report. Total enrollment this year is 445, up 64% over just four years ago.

“We are very pleased to report that we have exceeded the enrollment goals we set in our five-year plan,” says VASJ President Richard Osborne ’69. “Our policy of selective admissions and controlled growth has put us in the enviable position of assembling a student body made up of truly outstanding young men and women.”

The school’s enrollment includes 138 freshmen chosen from hundreds of applicants from some 50 grade schools, according to Csank .

In addition, the school has enrolled 21 eighth-graders from Our Lady of the Lake and St. Jerome schools in the Viking Edge Program, an early mathematics program allowing eighth-grade students to earn high school credit at VASJ.

“In order for us to provide an academic environment that puts each student on track for success, it is important that both the students and their families understand and appreciate the unique value proposition of a VASJ education,” says Csank . “It is an honor and a privilege to be a Viking, and every year more families seek that distinction for their children.”

The school is known for its extraordinary college placement record and its leadership in academics and athletics. This year, VASJ became the only school in Ohio history to win the state boys basketball championship in all four divisions.

The school’s enrollment surge mirrors its progress in other areas. The venerable Viking Village gymnasium underwent a massive renovation that included new bleachers a year ago, and renovation of the gym lobby is now nearing completion.

Among many other improvements throughout the school, the Founders Chapel has been refurbished, the Technical Building is being transformed to accommodate an innovative  computer education initiative called Classrooms to Corporations, and numerous cosmetic and infrastructure upgrades have been made.

The school is enjoying record-setting support from its generous donors. This past year’s Classic Mixer, the school’s major annual fundraiser, raised some $450,000. Overall fundraising for the year was nearly $1.5 million. Among the beneficiaries has been the school’s Endowment Fund, which has grown by $1 million in the past five years.

VASJ, the result of a merger between the all-girls Villa Angela Academy (founded in 1878) and the all-boys St. Joseph High School (established in 1950), is celebrating its 25th anniversary year. There are some 20,000 graduates of VASJ and its predecessor schools.

Owned by the Diocese of Cleveland and sponsored by both the Ursuline Sisters and Marianist Brothers, VASJ is committed to the spiritual, academic and personal growth of each student.

“We are profoundly grateful for the confidence shown in us by Bishop Richard G. Lennon, the Ursulines, the Marianists and all of our friends and families,” says Osborne. “We are truly blessed.”