St. Francis Xavier Catholic Academy in Southeast Washington blessed and dedicated on Sept. 18 a new playground for students there.
Brandon Brice, the chief development officer of the Consortium of Catholic Academies of which St. Francis Xavier is a part, called the new playground “a major investment” in the students at the school.
Dr. Camille Brown Privette, president of the consortium, called the new play area “a wonderful gift to this school which has been serving God’s children for 88 years.”
She added that the creation of the “beautiful, beautiful playground” is an “investment in the school that is not just about today, but looks to the future and continuing the legacy of St. Francis Xavier School.”
Gathered on a sunny late summer day around the new playground equipment, school officials, parents, benefactors and others watched as Father Francisco “Kiko” Rodriguez, parochial vicar at St. Francis Xavier Parish, blessed the new play equipment.
“To have a place for students to let off their energy is awesome,” he said, before sprinkling the playground with holy water and praying that it would be “a place of sharing, communion and good.”
Dr. Sheryce Parrish, the assistant principal of the school, said “it is stuff like this (creation of the play area) that brings life to Ward 7.”
“We have dynamic educators here at this little piece of gold on the corner of 27th and O streets,” she added.
The Consortium of Catholic Academies – which next January will mark the 30th anniversary of its founding – provides academic, financial and other support to four center-city Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Washington: St. Anthony Catholic School; St. Francis Xavier Catholic Academy; Sacred Heart Catholic School; and St. Thomas More Catholic Academy.
Combined, those schools serve about 750 students.
Dr. Barbara Edmondson, president of the CCA board of directors, said the new playground shows “equity in education” and aligns with “our goal to not only educate our students (in the consortium), but for them to have the same experiences as their peers in other schools across the archdiocese.”
“This is the most important work we do – taking care of our children in our city,” she said. “We nurture the hearts, minds and bodies of our children.”
