An elite private academy plans to open on the site of a former Catholic school in Miami.
The Miami Herald reports that Avenues: The World School, which opened in New York City in 2012, will establish a Miami campus on the site of the former Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School. That school closed last year after more than 60 years because of declining enrollment.
An Avenues spokesperson says that an affiliate entity purchased the 15-acre property, which is in the city's Little Haiti neighborhood. Records show the purchase price was $60 million.
Triple Five, the developer of Miami’s American Dream Mall, previously inked an agreement to buy the property, but announced this spring that they had pulled out.
In a statement, the archdiocese said proceeds of the sale will be placed in a trust set aside for the long-term capital needs of the Archdiocese, and in an endowment for seminarian education. A portion of the proceeds will also be used to provide renovations to the Notre Dame d’Haiti adult learning center and scholarships for former Curley students now attending Msgr. Pace High School.
Avenues says it hopes to begin offering programs for Miami students in 2021 and open its full campus in 2022. It plans to serve students aged 2 to 18.
Avenues’ New York campus charges $54,000 a year; the school also has campuses in Sao Paolo, Brazil and Shenzhen, China.
The school says it plans to offer “robust” financial assistance to highly qualified students regardless of family income.
