Queen of Apostles School needed a facelift. Several of the bathrooms dated back to the Alexandria school’s founding in 1966. New energy-efficient lights were needed in the school gym, which is often used as an event space for the parish. With limited resources, the school could not afford such a large project. Then Principal Kristie Meyers received a phone call last spring.
“Joe Vorbach, head superintendent, called and said, ‘The Traylor-Shea foundation joint venture is looking for a Catholic school, and you were selected,’ ” Meyers said.
Joseph Vorbach, diocesan school superintendent, informed Meyers that the school had received a $300,000 grant. Meyers was overjoyed. “It was a complete surprise, and I was so excited,” she said.
Shea Family Charities is a Catholic foundation based in Walnut, Calif., that has provided grants to more than 400 Catholic schools nationwide. The family construction company, J.F. Shea Construction, frequently works alongside Traylor Bros., a construction company based out of Indiana. For every project completed by the Traylor/Shea Joint Venture, the family foundation provides a grant to a local beneficiary.
The companies accepted a project in 2020 to remediate four combined sewer outfalls in Old Town Alexandria to clean up the Potomac River. Amid the ongoing project, the Traylor/Shea Joint Venture contacted Vorbach to offer a grant to a local Catholic school. After assessing the needs of Queen of Apostles School and the Basilica School of St. Mary, the school closest to the project site, the joint venture offered both schools grants of $300,000.
At Queen of Apostles School, the grant funded the refinishing of the gym floor; brighter, eco-friendly lights in the gym that will save the school nearly 60 percent in energy costs; new hallway security cameras; and water-saving plumbing fixtures and new hand dryers in the school bathrooms. The renovations took place this summer.
At the Basilica school, the grant funded new light fixtures in several first floor rooms, new cubbies in several classrooms, restoration to the school’s social hall and a renovation to the pre-kindergarten wing. The renovations were an addition to the Basilica school’s “Mary Lead Us Campus Transformation” campaign, which constructed a new outdoor sports plaza and a library and media center and renovated the school’s lobby and administrative offices, among other areas of the school. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge blessed the campus Dec. 8.
Dan O’Melveny, executive director of Shea Family Charities, and Jim Marquardt, vice president and eastern area manager of J.F. Shea Construction Inc., conducted a site visit to Queen of Apostles School Dec. 5.
As the men arrived, students greeted the guests with large banners proclaiming, “Welcome, Traylor-Shea.” Students cheered while waving blue, white and gold pom-poms.
Several students gave O’Melveny and Marquardt a tour of the school, explaining how the new renovations enhanced their school experience.
Following the tour, school administrators, parents, students, O’Melveny and Marquardt gathered in the gym for an assembly. Several school administrators and Father Alexander Diaz, pastor, expressed gratitude for the joint venture. National Junior Honor Society member and seventh grader Lucas Malcom delivered a brief address, describing the improvements to the school gym.
“After the renovations, I was very excited to see what the new gym floors were like. When I walked in, there wasn’t a scuff (on the floor), and the lights reflected off of the floor. They made the gym much brighter,” he said.
O’Melveny and Marquardt encouraged the students to practice philanthropy in their own lives. “Whatever you do for someone else for their benefit, you’re doing philanthropy,” O’Melveny said.
Students concluded the assembly with pom-pom waving and a multilingual song, “Malo! Malo! Thanks be to God.”
Meyers said that when Queen of Apostles students returned to school this fall, they were astonished at the changes.
“We’re a small school, and we just don’t have these kinds of resources to spend. And they spent $300,000 on my school,” Meyers said. “That is such an amazing answered prayer for us.”
