Pictured (L-R): Advancement Director Heather Pietig, Fr. Terry Roder, Fr. Patrick Behm, Matt Greteman, Kuemper Foundation Chairman Jon Tiefenthaler, Kuemper School Board President Laura Schaefer, Kuemper President John Steffes, 7-12 Principal Ted Garringer, Student Services Director Ryan Steinkamp, and PreK-6 Principal Kathi Milligan.
Students, staff, alumni, and community partners gathered this (Monday) morning to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Kuemper Catholic School System’s uKnighted campus renovation. The approximately $28.5 million project will bring significant overhauls to the elementary school, the construction of a new competition gymnasium, a music room, a chapel, and academic spaces, and the addition of a skywalk to tie the campus together. At Monday’s groundbreaking, Kuemper President John Steffes says it is remarkable to look back at Fr. Kuemper’s vision from over a century ago to see where they are today.
The ceremony also included comments and blessings from clergymen, who have always played a central role in Kuemper Catholic’s growth and development. Fr. Patrick Behm says projects of this scale take many hands and divine providence to come to life.
Kathi Milligan, who serves as Kuemper Catholic’s PreK-6 principal, says the impacts of this project, when completed, will be felt for decades.
Kuemper leadership then stepped out into the damp earth to don hard hats and shovels and ceremoniously turn the first pieces of earth. The site will be under construction for the next two years, and school officials are hopeful the work will be completed for the start of the 2028-2029 school year. As of Monday morning, the uKnighted capital campaign had raised $24.5 million, well on its way to the $28.5 million goal.
