By STEPHEN BEALE
Union Leader Correspondent
 

GOFFSTOWN - Parents have voted to buy the Villa Augustina from its owners of 90 years, marking a final step in what many members of the school community have said is a miraculous journey from near closure to a new beginning.

"The deal is done," said Carol Barrett, the chair of the Villa Augustina Leadership Transition Team. "It's really just the mechanics of the lawyer stuff."

Just five months ago, the Religious of Jesus and Mary said it did not have the finances or personnel to support the school it founded. At that time, parents had few resources at their disposal to run the school themselves. But a spirited fundraising campaign since then has given them more than $700,000.

The vote last night came after Barrett told the assembly of approximately 50 parents and school staff that the religious order had approved a purchase and sale agreement for the school building and surrounding 32 acres, even getting the nod from its headquarters in Rome.

"It was wonderful, wonderful news," said Russell Mann, of Henniker, who has had two children at the school. "Honestly, I knew it would happen. I just had faith."

The purchase and sale agreement, which parent leaders expect to sign this Wednesday, was not the only good news announced last night. Barrett said the school also had received a $100,000 anonymous alumni gift for the purchase of the school.

The Villa Augustina community has now raised a total of $737,336, with $516,136 for repairs and renovations and $221,200 for buying the school. It will take $400,000 to buy the school. Barrett said she was confident parents would have that amount ready in time for the closing on the sale, set for the end of June.

St. Anselm College has pledged to help out with fundraising, with the Benedictine monks of the abbey even donating the first $100,000 for the purchase price. If parents do not have the full $400,000 in two months, Barrett said the leadership team will be able to get a loan from St. Mary's Bank.

The new relationship with the Benedictine college a mere four miles from campus will extend beyond fundraising. The Rev. Mathias Durette, the assistant dean of students at St. Anselm, told parents last night that the school was making outreach and volunteerism at the Villa Augustina a part of the sophomore year experience program.

Durette said the college could loan student teachers and coaches to the Villa Augustina, send volunteers to do various projects at the school and provide mentors to pupils at the elementary-middle school. These are only a few examples of the many things St. Anselm students could be doing, he said.

"This is something that money cannot buy," Durette said. "I don't know why we didn't do this sooner. Sometimes it takes a crisis for clarity to come through €" for creativity to come through."

A few question marks remain. The leadership team is still working on finding a replacement for retiring Principal Jack Daniels and is hoping to boost enrollment from its current level of 175 students to 200 next year. The team is also not sure if it will be able to keep the Villa Augustina name, for legal reasons.

Because this is a transition year, Barrett said the final enrollment may be less than the approximately 250 students the school now has, but she is confident it will pick up when the Villa Augustina reopens in the fall.

Once the sale is complete, the Religious of Jesus and Mary will have some property left in the area, including the cemetery, the ballfields used by the town Little League teams, and the Emmaus House, where some sisters continue to live. Also, the order has an option agreement to buy back the school if, for some reason, it should close. That option expires within 10 years.

But last night there seemed to be little doubt that the school was on the cusp of a bright new future. Lynn Mark, whose family donated $10,000 toward to ensure her four children could stay at the Villa Augustina, was left speechless at the all the good news.

"I don't know how to put it into words," she said.

Reproduced by the Goffstown Residents Association.