St. Paul’s school changing name to St. Michael’s Academy

St. Paul’s School located in Haymarket is undergoing some changes, one of which will take place this upcoming school year, 2015-16.

Kathlerine Howe Evans, EdD is the principal of this Christian school which currently serves preschool through fourth grade.

“Beginning in the next school year, Howe explained, “our school will be known as St. Michael’s Academy. We did this for several reasons. In the past there has been some confusion in the community in that some have assumed that we are affiliated with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and we are not.

“We also want to reflect our growth and new beginnings which will eventually result in serving all our students at our new location on John Marshall Highway which will be known as the SPARK campus. By the school year beginning in 2017, we will have consolidated all of our students at the new location.

“We also wanted to make that decision now so that we could get the community and school family familiar with our new name ahead of time. Saint Michael was selected because we wanted a distinctly Christian name so that when people heard it, they knew what our values were. By selecting a Christian saint, we would send that message. We also wanted a name that was not already affiliated with a school in the area so that we could distinguish ourselves and our excellent reputation. In addition, we wanted a name that would dovetail with our desire to raise up a brilliant generation of saints and scholars. Saint Michael is sometimes described as the ‘Prince of Light’.

“He is seen as a spiritual warrior prepared to do battle for truth and light. We thought he would be a perfect example for our little ‘Sparks” who carry and share Christ’s light and love.

“We have developed a new crest. However, our staff and school board will be the same as will our school colors of purple and gold. We have a school hymn called ‘Pass It On’ and it talks about the power of a spark to start a fire and that is what we want our students to be able to do. They may be small but they have a brilliant future ahead of them!”

Howe noted, “Our school is interdenominational which means we do not teach from a particular denominational perspective. I would describe our school as traditional and one that upholds family values. We have chosen to adopt an entirely Christian curriculum so the curriculum is designed specifically with Biblical integration in every subject, even handwriting.”

St.Michael’s preschool is located at 6735 Fayette Street in Haymarket and can be reached at 703-754-1948. The elementary school is located at the SPARKS campus at 14610 John Marshall Hwy. in Haymarket and can be reached at 703-753-3953. Go to http://www stpau.ls school haymarket.org.