A Catholic grammar school serving the Austin community announced the appointment of its inaugural president.
Staunton Peck stepped into his new role Oct. 15.
“I am thrilled to be joining the incredible team at St. Catherine-St. Lucy School,” said Peck. “The school’s hallways exude an energy of service, optimism, and commitment to academic excellence. I look forward to shining a light on that transformative energy so that more students, families, and donors will be eager to join our mission – a mission to change lives one student at a time, one day at a time.”
In 2020, Big Shoulders Fund, a nonprofit that works to ensure under-resourced areas have access to quality, values-based education, took over about 30 Catholic schools. Once that happened, “great things” started happening for the school that required having a president take over the fundraising reins, the school’s spokesperson Jennifer Courier said.
St. Catherine-St. Lucy School, which serves grades PreK 3 to 8, is located in Oak Park at the intersection of Washington and Austin boulevards. It serves students from 10 zip codes, with 85% of its 227 students coming from Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.
“The school’s hallways exude an energy of service, optimism, and commitment to academic excellence,” Peck said. “I look forward to shining a light on that transformative energy so that more students, families, and donors will be eager to join our mission.”
The mission, he added, is to change lives one student at a time, one day at a time.
As president, Peck will oversee the school’s business operations and community partnerships, with a special focus on fundraising initiatives, and will working closely with the school administration, Big Shoulders Fund, the Archdiocese and the local community.
“We are thrilled to welcome Staunton as our new President,” said Sharon Leamy, principal of St. Catherine-St. Lucy School. “His deep commitment to our mission and his impressive track record in fundraising will play a crucial role in advancing our goals and securing a bright future for our school.”
Peck’s duties include supporting existing campaigns and developing innovative strategies to address the school’s present and future financial needs.
“We are excited to have Staunton join the team at St. Catherine – St. Lucy School,” representatives from The Big Shoulders Fund said. “We believe that this position will expand the school’s mission and help to provide the highest-quality education to the school’s students.”
Peck has served as director of development at Chicago Hope Academy, a Christian high school, where he led a team that raised between $6 million and $10 million annually during the past four years. Before that, Peck spent eight years at Fenwick High School, a strategic partner of the school, where he served as the head varsity basketball coach and assistant athletic director.
Founded in 1889, St. Catherine of Siena Parish was the first Catholic parish established in Oak Park. In 1974, St. Catherine of Siena was merged with St. Lucy Parish of the Austin neighborhood Chicago’s West Side (which was founded in 1911), forming the renamed St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy Parish, according to information from the school’s website.