Rosati-Kain Forever Fund Opened at the St. Louis Community Foundation 

Many members of the St. Louis community were shocked when the Archdiocese of St. Louis announced the closure of 111-year-old Rosati-Kain High School in September 2022 as part of its “All Things New” downsizing plan for parishes and schools. 

Thanks to a dedicated group of alumni, the closure didn’t happen. These individuals undertook a significant fundraising and community awareness effort to save the school they loved. Now called Rosati-Kain Academy (RKA) and sponsored by St. Joseph Educational Ministries, Rosati will continue to educate 70–80 young scholars annually as the only all-girls school in the City of St. Louis. 

“Rosati is an awesome place for young women to have a private, faith-based education,” said Michelle Martin Bonner, Board Chair of Rosati-Kain Academy and Rosati alumni. “Rosati’s student body has always been diverse, and our program truly shapes young women to prepare them to go into the world—to be whomever they want to be and in any profession.” More than half of RKA’s student body is Black or Hispanic. 

Rosati alumni Nikki Martinez, Community Investment Officer, St. Louis Community Foundation, played an integral part of the fundraising effort by facilitating the creation of the Rosati-Kain Forever Fund, a component fund of the St. Louis Community Foundation. “It was important that we had a way to make sure that any donations RKA received were handled responsibly. We also needed the coverage of a Fund at the St. Louis Community Foundation until our status as a 501c(3) nonprofit is formalized,” said Cynthia Goudy, Interim President, Rosati-Kain Academy. 

RKA will remain rooted in history while listening to feedback from students, parents, and alumni on how it can improve. “We have been working on our cultural competency through awareness work focused on topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd,” said Bonner. “Our students are amazing and deserve for their education to be taken to the next level.” 

Goudy said, “We want to continue to offer an academically rigorous program and be a place where all our students are free to express themselves. The women who graduate from Rosati are transforming communities locally and across the world.” 

Donate to the Rosati-Kain Forever Fund by clicking here. The Fund is also participating in Give STL Day on May 10, 2023.