Organization secures funding for high school in Saukville

NorthShore Classical Academy, which earlier this year decided to delay its opening in the former Ozaukee Christian and Immaculate Conception school building in Saukville, announced last week it has secured financing for renovations and will welcome its inaugural class to the first private high school in Ozaukee County in September 2027.

Although high school classes won’t be held until next year, NorthShore Classical Academy plans to offer two one-week sessions this summer for students entering fifth through eighth grades.

The nonprofit school called the financing for renovations a “significant milestone.”

“NCA was found to provide families with an exceptional classical education rooted in truth, goodness and virtue,” Cheryle Rebholz, founder and president of NorthShore Classical Academy, said. “This financing will allow us to create a permanent home that will support that mission, reflect the excellence of the education taking place within it and serve generations of students to come.”

In April, Rebholz said the school, which had planned to welcome its first students this September, decided to delay the opening for a year because, in part, of the “longer-than-anticipated process to secure financing”

“We were, with great anticipation and excitement, preparing to welcome our first students in September 2026,” she said in a statement. “A variety of factors have, however, led our board of directors to decide to delay NCA’s opening by one year.”

The school has now secured financing from Bank First through its Cedarburg branch and plans to make a significant investment in the building at 341 S. Dries St., which served as a Catholic parish school from the late 1800s to 1999, then was home to Ozaukee Christian School before it moved to the Town of Trenton.

NorthShore Classical Academy purchased the building last year for $305,000, according to state real estate transaction records, and in January the Village of Saukville Plan Commission approved its plans for $2.4 million in renovations.

Those plans included a 940-square-foot addition to the front of the school between the newer section of the building, which dates to 1962, and the older portion built in the 1800s.

Inna Turner, vice president of NorthShore Classical Academy, said this week that the addition and the creation of a multipurpose outdoor field will be the focus of a second phase of the renovations, “which we plan to address once the school is open and running, depending on our fundraising.”

The first phase of the project, which is to be completed before the school opens, focuses on the new section of the building and includes updating electrical systems, replacing the roof, painting the interior and renovating two classrooms and bathrooms, which will be reconfigured to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The gym will also be updated and painted.

A construction timeline is being developed.

The third and final phase of improvements will include the renovation of the cafeteria and the creation of a “teaching kitchen,” as well as work to restore the older portion of the building, Turner said.

“We intend to restore rather than renovate the old building to restore it to its original glory rather than rip it down on the inside and start over,” she said. “This goes hand-in-hand with a classical education because it teaches about history.”

The phases, Turner said, are not set in stone.

“Some of this is fluid,” she said. “This is our wish and our desire, but it can change depending on fundraising and other factors.”

Rebholz said last year she initially intended NorthShore Classical Academy to be a Wisconsin charter school, but after the application was denied she decided on a privately funded school.

“We’re 100% independent,” she said. “Not a penny will come from the state or federal government. We’re a nonprofit.

“I don’t want rules and regulations from the state. I want freedom and independence from the government.”

The school, which will not be religiously affiliated, will use the Hillsdale College Curriculum, with one day a week dedicated to teaching students about careers through partnerships with area businesses.

The curriculum will provide a foundation in literature, history, science and math and provide four “pathways” for students — college preparation, career technical education, the military and entrepreneurship, Rebholz, a former Mequon-Thiensville School Board member, said.

The high school plans to open next year to freshmen, then add a grade level every year, Turner said earlier this year.

In the meantime, it will offer summer courses for middle school students during two sessions, one from July 6 through July 10, and the other from July 13 through July 17.

The offerings are Shakespeare in Action, in which students will explore Julius Caesar through theater; The Art of Strategy — Chess and Strategic Games; and D3 — Drama Dialogue and Discovery.

The classes will be taught by Sara Foster, a veteran educator who has taught English, arts, reading, writing, social studies and theater.