St. Mary’s University of Minnesota to open St. Paul trade, tech high school
St. Mary’s University of Minnesota will create a St. Paul Catholic high school focused on trade and technology, the university announced Monday.
Starting in 2028, ninth grade students will be able to prepare for employment, industry credentials and apprenticeships and have the opportunity to earn a defined number of college credits through St. Mary’s University while in high school.
The school will be named Blessed Santiago Miller School of Trade and Technology after Blessed James “Santiago” Miller, a graduate and faculty member of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota who died in 1982.
“For more than a year, the Board of Trustees and I have been considering how Saint Mary’s can respond authentically and distinctively to the changing educational, workforce, and societal needs of our time while remaining faithful to who we are as a Lasallian Catholic university,” said Rev. James P. Burns, St. Mary’s president, in a statement Monday.
The school is funded by a group of anonymous donors as part of a restricted gift that will be used to purchase the property and fund its initial operating budget, according to university officials. That budget includes salaries, maintenance, security, insurance and related expenses for the first positions at the school.
The initial trade school grounds will be at the St. Francis de Sales campus at 650 Palace Ave. in St. Paul’s West Seventh neighborhood.
