Totino-Grace HS to offer boarding option for students

FRIDLEY, Minn. (KMSP) - Starting this fall, Totino-Grace High School in Fridley, Minn. will offer room and board to international and domestic students.

The school already has over a dozen international students attending who stay with teachers and other host families.  But now, the building that used to house the Sisters of Notre Dame in the 1960s will be renovated into a dormitory.  Each room can house two students.  There will also be full time staff members to help take care of the kitchen, study areas and the game room. 

Totino-Grace President Craig Junker says all students will benefit from the change.

“We know in today's business climate that today's students can have an appreciation and a respect and a comfort level, to be able to communicate to be able to collaborate with people from other cultures, they have advantages,” Junker said. “That's what really got us out of the box.”

Tuition, room and board will cost about $30,000 to $40,000 a year.  At least some of the revenue will assist students who otherwise would not be able to afford to go to Totino-Grace. 

While students are welcome from anywhere in the world, Junker expects the biggest international enrollment to come from China, South Korea and other countries in Asia.

Totino-Grace High School is the first Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to offer a boarding option.