Saint Francis Catholic Academy (SFCA) recently announced that it has entered the public phase of its current capital campaign, Feeding the Future, which will bring a much-anticipated multipurpose cafeteria to the school’s campus.
In an interview with Mainstreet, Caleb Wiegandt, Director of Advancement at SFCA, said the school, which first opened in 2004 and moved to its current location on NW 39th Avenue in 2008, has never had a traditional cafeteria.
SFCA students currently eat lunch in the main hallways of the school or outside on the uncovered sidewalk beside the gymnasium.
With enrollment numbers on the rise at SFAC, Wiegandt said the school is serving its largest student body ever this academic year, with over 275 students enrolled, there has become a need for a cafeteria space.
“…You’ve got so many more new faces in our building, which is an exciting problem to have, for sure, but that’s why we feel…so strongly that now is the time to go on this thing [the multipurpose cafeteria],” he said.
The new building, roughly 7,000 square feet in total size, will be situated “directly south” of the school’s gym and a few of its locker rooms, Wiegandt said.
“It’s all space that was in kind of the original master plan for the school – to be the third phase of construction for Saint Francis [Catholic Academy],” he added.
The cafeteria space of the building will include a dining area with seating for up to 200 students per lunch period, according to an SFCA press release. This area can also be changed for church and theater-style seating as well.
The release notes that the building will also house a new stage for hosting on-campus drama productions. This comes with all the additional components, such as curtains, lighting, dressing rooms, a modern sound system and a backstage area.
“We’ve previously, in the past, had to rent or borrow other spaces to do those kinds of performances,” Wiegandt said. “To be able to do that on our campus and have it all in-house is going to be huge for us, curriculum-wise and just being able to expand that kind of magnet [program] to our school.”
Plans for the cafetorium also call for a new teaching kitchen, which will house SFCA’s upcoming culinary arts institute.
“A full kind of hands-on teaching kitchen complete with cooking stations for students,” Wiegandt said. “And we’d be hiring and promoting a new kind of committee and curriculum formation for that program as we got further along the lines of seeing the space kind of rise up.”
Three additional restrooms are also included in the building’s design plan.
“Yes, it is a cafeteria and an absolute necessity to our school expansion, but really the expansion is bigger than just the physical space,” Wiegandt said. “It’s really going to expand those curriculum opportunities and help our students be more well-rounded and doing a lot of careers that are more 21st-century-minded.”
According to the release, SFCA has partnered with Brame Heck Architects to design the new building, while Charles Perry Partners Inc. has been chosen to do the construction. The estimated cost to build the new space is $3 million.
SFCA is actively raising money to cover construction costs. More information on how to contribute to the school’s campaign can be found at https://www.sfcawolves.org/cafeteria-campaign.
A groundbreaking for the new multipurpose cafeteria is anticipated for June 2026.
“Our plan is early June [2026], pretty much as soon as our students walk out [of the school] for summer break, to break ground,” Wiegandt said. “And then roughly a year to completion is what we’re looking at.”
Wiegandt added that the estimated move-in for students into the building is the first part of the 2027-28 school year.
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.