Nativity School officially opens first-ever girls division
Photo I Courtesy of Nativity School of Worcester
Students went blueberry picking during their first week as the first girls cohort of 5th and 6th graders at Nativity School of Worcester.
The formerly all-boys Jesuit middle school Nativity School of Worcester has welcomed its first cohort of 5th and 6th grade girls into its Julie Power Girls Division.
After 21 years as an all-boys school, the division’s opening on July 8 is the school’s effort to increase access to education for Worcester students and marks the first tuition-free, private education for girls in Central Massachusetts, according to a Sunday press release from Nativity Worcester.
“We believe that educating and empowering young women at Nativity Worcester will not only provide a transformative education for these students, but strengthen our school and positively impact the Worcester community and beyond. This is a historic moment for our school and we are thrilled to have our first ever Nativity Women with us for our July summer program. We look forward to supporting these young women and educating them as they form into tomorrow’s leaders,” Nativity Worcester President Tom McKenney said in the release.
The late Julie Power, who the division is eponymously named for, founded Michigan-based consumer insights firm J.D. Power and Associates in 1968 with her late husband James David Power. Julie Power had volunteered teaching English as a second language to immigrant populations.
The J.D. Power family and the Power-founded nonprofit, Kenrose Kitchen Table Foundation, donated $3 million to The Campaign for Nativity School to support the opening of the girls division.
In total, the school raised $18.5 million out of a $20-million goal to bolster the school’s endowment and fund scholarships for boy and girl students.
Nativity School's principal, Andrea Bazarian, was named one of the most influential professionals in Central Massachusetts in WBJ's Power 100 list, released in April.
“Opening Nativity's doors to Worcester's middle school girls is something that the trustees, staff, and local families have discussed for many years, and we are so thrilled that the time has finally come to do so. I've met many of the incoming girls, and it is clear that they have incredible energy and a hunger to learn,” Charles “Chick” Weiss, Nativity Worcester co-founder and trustee, said in the release.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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