St. Mary Catholic Schools, Inc.

What St. Mary Catholic Schools, Inc. does

St. Mary Catholic Schools, Inc. (SMCS) is a nonprofit Catholic school system operating five campuses across Neenah and Menasha in Wisconsin's Fox Valley, delivering faith-integrated education from PreK-3 through Grade 12 to more than 1,000 students under the spiritual guidance of the Diocese of Green Bay. The system comprises three elementary schools (St. Mary, St. Margaret Mary, St. Gabriel), a middle school opened in 2015-16 on the high school campus, and a high school in an 87,000-square-foot facility on 32 acres that has been operating since 1997. Academic programming is built around a college-preparatory core, with AP and CAPP courses at the high school, Project Lead The Way STEM curriculum in the middle school, and a fine arts program anchored by the 22,000-square-foot Jane Bergstrom Fine Arts Education Center (built 2012).

The business model is a hybrid of tuition, philanthropy, and ancillary services. Tuition is the primary recurring revenue stream and is tiered by grade level and parishioner status, with parishioner rates meaningfully below non-parishioner rates (e.g., high school $9,450 vs. $11,240). Tuition is set below the cost of education to preserve accessibility, with 48% of the student body receiving assistance and 94% of demonstrated need met by school awards. Philanthropic revenue flows through the Annual Fund, the separately incorporated SMCS Foundation (founded 2018), and four recurring events including Zephyrfest. Ancillary revenue comes from food service and Camp Zephyr, a faith-based summer program serving 400+ students from the broader Fox Valley. The Wisconsin Parental Choice Program provides a regulated voucher channel for income-qualifying families.

Go-to-market is sales-led through the Office of Admission, with a guided inquiry-to-enrollment process managed in PowerSchool, supported by campus tours, shadow days, admissions events, and a multi-channel digital presence (website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, system and alumni newsletters). Leadership is stable and long-tenured, including President Dan McKenna and principal-level staff with 20-30+ years of Catholic education experience. The organization invests in facility renewal (most recently the $2M St. Mary Elementary renovation in summer 2024), STEM programming (VEX Robotics World Championship appearance in 2024), and senior hires in Advancement (2023) and Enrollment and Communications (2025), indicating an active posture on growth and fundraising even though the school is a mature, tuition-dependent nonprofit with no disclosed external funding, M&A, or expansion beyond the Fox Valley.

Name

St. Mary Catholic Schools, Inc.

Legal name

St. Mary Catholic Schools

Website

https://smcatholicschools.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1928

Operating status

Operating

Short description

St. Mary Catholic Schools, Inc. is a nonprofit Catholic school system operating five campuses in Wisconsin's Fox Valley, delivering faith-integrated education from PreK-3 through Grade 12 to more than 1,000 students funded by tiered tuition, philanthropy, and ancillary services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private K-12 Catholic Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (61111), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based (Religious) K–12 Schools (EDAJABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Faith-Based Early Learning Academies (EDACADAH)

Keywords

• Catholic K-12 education
• Private school system
• Early childhood education
• College preparatory programs
• Faith-based education

Headquarters

HQ city

Neenah

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Tuition: Primary revenue stream from tuition payments for PreK-3 through Grade 12 education. Tuition rates vary by grade level and parishioner status, with non-parishioners paying higher rates. The school sets tuition below actual cost of education to maintain accessibility.
2. Philanthropic Contributions: Annual Fund donations, major campaigns, planned giving, endowed funds, and special event fundraising that bridge the gap between tuition and actual educational costs. Includes Zephyrfest gala, Zephyrs Connect 5K, ZCabaret, and Greater Zephyrs Open golf event.
3. Food Service: Revenue from breakfast and lunch programs for students and adults, with separate pricing for elementary and middle/high school levels.
4. Summer Camps and Childcare: Camp Zephyr faith-based summer childcare program serving over 400 students annually, plus STEAM Academy, athletics camps, and strength and conditioning programs.
5. Wisconsin Parental Choice Program: State voucher program covering base tuition and registration fees for qualifying families meeting WPCP income limits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

St. Mary Catholic Schools is a private Catholic school system providing PreK-3 through Grade 12 education across five campuses (three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school) in the Fox Valley region of Wisconsin. The core offering is classroom-based academic instruction integrated with Catholic faith formation, supplemented by STEM, fine arts, athletics, student services, and social-emotional learning programs, all governed under The Zephyr Way character framework and supported by tuition, philanthropy, and food service revenue streams.

Product overview

St. Mary Catholic Schools operates as a unified educational system offering Catholic education from Pre-K3 through 12th grade across five campuses in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin (Neenah and Menasha). The system comprises three elementary schools (St. Mary Elementary, St. Margaret Mary Elementary, and St. Gabriel Elementary), one middle school, and one high school. The core educational offering integrates academic excellence with Catholic faith formation through a comprehensive curriculum that includes core academics, STEM/STEAM programs (including Project Lead The Way), fine arts (with the Jane Bergstrom Fine Arts Education Center), theology, athletics, and extensive extracurricular activities. Supporting programs include Student Services with counseling, learning support, and EL support; social-emotional learning curricula (Character Strong at middle school, Purpose Full People at elementary); the RedGEN mental health initiative; and character development through The Zephyr Way framework. The school also operates Camp Zephyr as a summer enrichment program and conducts annual fundraising events including Zephyrfest, ZCabaret, Zephyrs Connect, and the Greater Zephyrs Open.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Camp Zephyr: A faith-based summer childcare program offering STEAM camps, sports camps, and academic enrichment programs for students from preschool through middle school.
• SMCS Foundation

Products and services

• St. Mary Catholic Schools System (PreK-3 through Grade 12) A unified Catholic educational system serving students from PreK-3 through 12th grade across five campuses (three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school) in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin (Neenah and Menasha). The system provides academic instruction grounded in Catholic faith, values, and traditions, integrating AP/CAPP coursework, Project Lead The Way STEM, fine arts, athletics, theology, student services, and the proprietary Zephyr Way character framework. It serves over 1,000 students with 186 faculty and staff, accepting tuition from families and the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program state voucher for qualifying families.
• Camp Zephyr Summer Program A standalone faith-based summer childcare and enrichment program offering STEAM camps, sports camps, and academic experiences for students from preschool through middle school. Camp Zephyr serves over 400 students annually from the greater Fox Valley area with one- to seven-week enrollment options, operating as a complementary offering to the academic-year system.
• Zephyrfest Annual Gala The premier annual fundraising gala event of SMCS, held at the Fox Cities Exhibition Center, featuring corporate sponsorships and community engagement to support SMCS programs and operations. Sponsorship tiers and event proceeds help bridge the gap between tuition and the actual cost of education.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% of high school students participate in extracurricular activities
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• UnitedHealthcare / UMR / HealthSCOPE BenefitssupportOthersThe school partners with UnitedHealthcare, UMR, and HealthSCOPE Benefits through St. Luke Benefit & Insurance Services to provide employee health benefits and publish machine-readable files for transparency in coverage.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Marquette University High School: Larger, well-established Catholic Jesuit college-prep high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Same Catholic college-prep mission with stronger brand and broader course offerings; relevant benchmark for academic positioning and athletics reputation.
• Divine Savior Holy Angels: Catholic college-prep high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with strong STEM and fine arts programs. Comparable in mission and academic rigor; benchmark for diocesan governance and extracurricular participation rates.

Direct peers

• Holy Family Catholic Schools: Catholic PreK-12 system in Dubuque, Iowa, operating under a similar diocesan model. Comparable multi-campus structure, voucher participation, and tuition-vs-cost gap economics; useful Midwest Catholic system benchmark.
• Notre Dame Academy: Catholic high school in Green Bay, Wisconsin, operating under the Diocese of Green Bay like SMCS. Closest diocesan peer for benchmarking Catholic curriculum, athletics (WIAA), and college-prep outcomes.
• Roncalli High School: Catholic high school in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, also under the Diocese of Green Bay. Comparable faith-based college-prep model in a smaller Wisconsin city, useful for tuition, fundraising, and diocesan-policy benchmarking.
• Aquinas Catholic Schools: Catholic PreK-12 system in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with multiple campuses similar to SMCS's structure. Comparable multi-campus Catholic school system for benchmarking feeder-pipeline economics and tuition strategy.
• Xavier High School: Catholic co-educational high school in Appleton, Wisconsin, serving the same Fox Valley region as SMCS. Most directly comparable competitor for Catholic high school families and feeder-pipeline students in the same geography.
• Lourdes Academy: Catholic PreK-12 system in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, about 20 miles from SMCS. Comparable in faith-based mission, grade-band coverage, and Fox Valley-region competition for Catholic-preference families.

Regional players

• Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School: Private religious high school in Jackson, Wisconsin, southeast of the Fox Valley region. Comparable religious-identity college-prep model and Wisconsin Parental Choice Program participant; useful for voucher-policy and tuition comparisons.
• Brookfield Academy: Independent secular private PreK-12 school in the Milwaukee suburbs. Comparable college-prep model with a premium tuition positioning (similar price band to SMCS), useful for benchmarking non-Catholic private competition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Zephyr_Sports
• Facebookfacebook.com/smcatholicschools
• Instagraminstagram.com/smcszephyrs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about St. Mary Catholic Schools, Inc.