The Diocese of Allentown has begun to accept applications for admission to its new high school for students in recovery from addiction.
Kolbe Academy, the nation’s first faith-based recovery high school, will open in September in Hanover Township, Pa., near Bethlehem.
Admission is open to any high school student who is in recovery from substance addiction. The school will serve students of all faiths from a broad geographic region, including all five counties of the Diocese: Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill, and beyond.
Like the Diocese’s six other high schools, Kolbe Academy will focus on academic excellence with a strong basis in Catholic teachings, while also offering a specialized curriculum for students in recovery.
“There is a critical need to provide spiritual, academic and emotional development for students who are in recovery from addiction,” said Dr. Brooke C. Tesche, Deputy Superintendent for Secondary and Special Education. “This new school is the next natural step for our Diocese to give students the education and support that they need.”
“Kolbe Academy will recognize the need of so many families who are suffering,” said Bishop Alfred Schlert. “Some of these families are Catholic. Some are of other faiths and some may have no faith at all. All will be welcomed not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic.”
Kolbe Academy will be located in Mullen Hall, the site of the former Saint Francis Academy. It will have a capacity for about 80 students. Like other Diocesan high schools, it will offer instruction on a normal, daytime school schedule. There will be no residential treatment.
Kolbe Academy is named after St. Maximilian Kolbe, the patron saint of those with addiction. For more information, contact the Diocesan Office of Education at 610-866-0581 or visit the Kolbe Academy website, www.kolbe-academy.com.
