Washington, D.C.
Saint Augustine Catholic School was founded in 1858 by free men of color and emancipated slaves in Washington, D.C., during a time when this community was worshipping at St. Martin’s Chapel, in the basement of St. Matthew’s Church, which later became St. Matthew’s Cathedral. The fact that this group of Black Catholics founded a school before building their own church during a time when slavery was still legal and public schools in the city not open to Black students shows the importance of education to them.
More than 160 years later, Fr. Patrick A. Smith, pastor of St. Augustine, likes to say that the best way we can pay tribute to our ancestors is to emulate them, as opposed to applauding them.
Given that Saint Augustine Catholic School is the sole remaining African-American parish school in the nation’s capital seems to speak to an ongoing commitment to education that the parishioners have. While dozens of schools in the nation’s capital and in the surrounding suburbs have closed in the last few decades, St. Augustine remains strong.
With 190 students from PK through 8th grade, St. Augustine is preparing its students academically, morally, and spiritually. Our students and staff come from more than 12 countries, and our school’s strong fundraising enables us to keep tuition very reasonable ($6,500 for one student) for working families.
The strong academic preparation has been seen in recent graduates receiving admissions offers at top local independent and Catholic high schools. Not only do the best Catholic schools seek our students, such as the two Jesuit-run boys schools, Georgetown Prep and Gonzaga, but also the Lasallian Christian Brothers-administered St. John’s College High School and Georgetown Visitation, run by the Visitation Sisters. In addition, top local prep schools such as Bullis, Georgetown Day School, and Maret have admitted our recent graduates.
Our school has seen more than 60 students be received into the Catholic Church since 2010, no doubt inspired in part by the examples set by their teachers, Fr. Smith, and the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, a traditional, missionary order from Nigeria that has served at the school for 14 years.
The school community prays five times each school day and attends a weekly Mass.
One can find more information at www.staug-dc.org.