Holy Family School (Oglesby – seen here), Trinity Catholic Academy (La Salle), and Peru Catholic School are coming together in the fall of 2025 as a unified school named The Academy of Carlo Acutis.

LA SALLE – On Feb 20 at St. Patrick Church in La Salle, Holy Family School (Oglesby), Trinity Catholic Academy (La Salle), and Peru Catholic School gathered together for Mass with Bishop Louis Tylka to reveal the name of their new unified school.

The all-schools Mass held at St. Patrick Church in LaSalle on Feb. 20 with Bishop Louis Tylka is believed to be the first occasion that Holy Family School (Oglesby), Peru Catholic, and Trinity Catholic Academy (La Salle) have celebrated Mass together in the same church at the same time.

Names had been proposed by the students, and the final choice came from a mission committee comprised of representatives from the three schools and Bishop Tylka.

In January, it was announced that the three Illinois Valley Catholic Schools had made the decision to pool resources as one school, with unified operations to begin in the fall of 2025.

JOINT PLANNING BODY ESTABLISHED

They have established a joint planning body, the Catholic Schools Consortium. As its website says, “The Catholic Schools Consortium is formed to unite our school families, parish communities, and local leaders, to thoughtfully and proactively respond to the modern needs of our schools.”

The Peru building will become the junior high for grades five through eight, as its location and athletic facilities will work well for older students. The LaSalle and Oglesby buildings will remain elementary schools, each serving preschool through fourth grade.

All current teachers have been invited and encouraged to return.

Blessed Caro Acutis used his computer skills to develop a website to promote Eucharistic miracles. He died of leukemia at age 15 in 2006. His canonization is planned for April 27, 2025, in Rome.

Born in 1991, Blessed Caro Acutis had a particular devotion to the Holy Eucharist, and used his computer skills to develop a website to promote Eucharistic miracles. He died of leukemia on October 12, 2006, at the age of 15, and is buried in Assisi, Italy.

Acutis’ canonization is planned for April, 2025, and so by the time students return to classes in the fall, their new school will have a new saint.

Jerry Sanderson, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Peoria, commented, “I am thrilled that Blessed (soon to be Saint) Carlo Acutis will be the patron of the new school.  Carlo Acutis is a great role model for students. His life shows that sanctity is possible no matter how young you are.”