St. Nicholas Academy
partners with families to help
kids reach their full potential.

What happens when there is a need in the community that no one is filling? Someone steps up to make a change. And that’s just what Elizabeth Huber did when she founded St. Nicholas Academy, a boarding school that helps kids reach their full potential physically, academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. 

 “I thought surely somebody’s doing something,” Elizabeth says. “We have so many good charities, but none of them were doing this boarding idea.” 

Although the kids stay at the home, St. Nicholas does not have custody of them. The children typically come to St. Nicholas when parents or guardians are facing circumstances that are affecting the children’s education.  

“We co-parent with their guardians,” says Michaela Newell, St. Nicholas’s current director and house mom. “As they become adults, we want them to still have strong family ties with their biological families and to stay connected to me and to each other.” 

“Parents decide to work with us and voluntarily bring these children to us to try to give them a very stable home life so they can succeed in school,” Elizabeth adds. 

St. Nicholas Academy was established in 2016 after a teacher friend mentioned some of the challenges she faced in the classroom to Elizabeth. The teacher recognized that some children were too occupied with securing necessities, like their next meal, rather than focusing on homework and doing well on standardized tests. Parents and guardians often do their best, but they can sometimes struggle too. 

“All of a sudden, it hit me. I thought, ‘Why don’t I outsource the school
part of the boarding school and just concentrate on the boarding?”’

Elizabeth Huber

One day, Elizabeth discovered the Milton Hershey School, a large boarding school in Pennsylvania that was established and funded by the Hershey family. Upon touring the school, Elizabeth became inspired. 

“I learned so much — especially the little things that I didn’t think about,” Elizabeth says. “So, I ended up using Milton Hershey as a model.” 

Knowing that she didn’t have nearly enough funds to do something of this scale alone, Elizabeth began  to think about ways to fill the same needs in Jefferson City with available resources. 

“There are really excellent private schools around here that are faith-based and self-funded,” Elizabeth says. “All of a sudden, it hit me. I thought, ‘Why don’t I outsource the school part of the boarding school and just concentrate on the boarding?”’ 

Elizabeth decided to meet with Dr. Gayle Trachsel, the principal of St. Peter Catholic School, in hopes of forming a partnership.  

“She said, ‘Elizabeth, we’re supposed to be missionaries in our own town; you bring us those kids, and we’ll make it work,” Elizabeth says. 

With St. Peter providing the children’s education, Elizabeth then set her focus on finding a place for the children to live. She approached Gaspare Calvaruso, the CEO of Capital Region Medical Center at the time, about an old daycare center located on Edgewood Drive.  

“I tried to talk him into donating it, and I didn’t succeed,” Elizabeth says. 

However, after talking to the board, Gaspare offered to lease the building to St. Nicholas for $1 a year for 20 years. Elizabeth then reset her focus to turning the old daycare into a home.  

“So many people did so much,” Elizabeth recalls. “People just came out of the woodwork to help.” 

Once the renovations were complete, St. Nicholas began accepting children between the ages of 5 and 10. These children are set to continue living at the home through graduation and receive regular visits from their biological families. St. Nicholas is also working on plans to support the boys in the home as they launch into adulthood. They now have five boys, ranging between ages 8 and 13, who live with the house parents full time. 

“We act like any other family with five boys,” Michaela says. “They go to school, participate in activities, we all cook dinner together, and we take fun vacations together. They act like brothers, which can be good and bad. When they’re bored, the best thing they think to do is pester their brother. But when they come back from visiting their guardians, you can tell they missed each other.” 

“These kids are incredibly loved,” Michaela adds. 

At St. Nicholas, the children are encouraged to pursue their unique interests and talents. 

“We act like any other family with five boys. They go to school, participate in
activities, we all cook dinner together, and we take fun vacations together.”

Michaela Newell

“Two are athletes; one is an artist, sketching and watching YouTube videos; one is outdoorsy, always out in the woods building forts and identifying bugs; and one is a singer and dancer,” Michaela says. “It’s been really cool to see them learn and grow.” 

Currently, St. Nicholas’ greatest needs are financial support and finding respite parents. There are all kinds of expenses associated with raising five boys, and St. Nicholas provides all of the children’s needs free of charge to the families, thus the need for financial support from the community. Community members and businesses can help by sponsoring groceries, summer camps, clothes, and more. 

They can also volunteer to be respite parents. As respite parents, couples fill in to watch the children when house parents need to be away for things like date nights, ordinary life occurrences, or if there is an emergency that calls them away from the house. Respite parents can be volunteers or paid employees, but they must be vetted and be able to establish a relationship with the boys. 

“We can’t just hire an ordinary babysitter,” says Newell. 

In addition to the funding needed to continue their current operations, St. Nicholas is looking to grow.

“We are trying to raise money to expand and serve girls, too,” Michaela says.

Anyone interested in learning more about the academy or contributing can go to stnick.org.