The Dallas Morning News / March 2006

As Thomas Weigel, an Irving high school senior, prepares to graduate from Faustina Academy in Irving and makes his move toward college, he is proud to have been a part of an independent faith-based community and school.

“The school stands behinds its mission and actually teaches us how to live according to Christ’s teachings and not how to try to get around it or change to meet societies’ pressures, ” Weigel said, president of the Faustina student council.

In May, Weigel, along with three other seniors, will be the first graduating senior class of Faustina Academy. Together, the four seniors have been offered $600,000 in university scholarships.

The school opened in August 2003 with 39 students and has grown to 98 students this year. At the school, pre-kindergarten through 12-grade students receive academics in a fostered spiritual environment. Teachers promote intellectual excellence daily within an atmosphere that respects and promotes the virtues of family and spiritual life.

For Weigel, the tie between family and spiritual life has helped contribute to his successes in education. He has been accepted at several universities and has yet to choose one.

“These families reinforce the same values and morals that my family instills in me and my brothers and sisters at home,” Weigel said of his teachers.