Letterbox - St. Paul’s Academy Is Alive and Well

To the Editor:

I read with interest the article “The War On Class And Education” by Evan Knappenberger in the April issue of your paper. The subject is specifically about issues of public college education, with an abundance of mostly negative examples drawn from situations at Western Washington University and Whatcom Community College.

In this two full-page article there is one exception to the theme of public college education. In a four-line, less than 40 words paragraph Mr. Knappenberger announces the “demise’’ (his word) of a private school, St. Paul’s Academy. It seems he added this unrelated item for good measure, but having nothing much to say about it, he didn’t deem necessary to research this inaccurate statement.

I would like to inform Mr. Knappenberger and your readers that news about its demise are greatly exaggerated. St. Paul’s Academy is alive and well and building an expansion with the support of the families, some well-off and some struggling, that send their children to it. For those who qualify, St. Paul’s Academy offers reduced tuition.

While it is true that the school lost its religious affiliation, everything else stays the same: excellent teachers, motivated students, supporting families and a great curriculum. It used to be known as St. Paul’s Episcopal School when it had a religious affiliation, a fact that appears to be unknown to Mr. Knappenberger. Now “Academy’’ is part of its name. This is the only change. I am the proud grandmother of two St. Paul’s students.

I am not sure now if I can trust the information that Mr. Knappenberger gives your readers in an article that appears at first sight to be very valuable.