By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Clinton Williams, 10, Roger Simpson, 9, and Camilo Rincon, 8, (left to right) say their prayers before going to recess at St. Peter Claver boys school in Over-the-Rhine. (Leigh Patton photo) | ZOOM |

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Enquirer has periodically followed the victories and struggles of St. Peter Claver Latin School for Boys since it opened in August 2001. This is the latest installment.

OVER-THE-RHINE - Five days before Father Al Lauer died last October, students from St. Peter Claver Latin School for Boys gathered at his bedside to sing to him in English, Latin and Spanish.

The dying priest, who founded the school in August 2001, then summoned the strength to bless each one.

In the spirit of Lauer, the Over-the-Rhine school has summoned the strength to carry on despite tremendous losses. Now in its third year, the school of 23 elementary students remembered him Monday on the first anniversary of his death.

When the Old St. Mary's priest died of liver cancer, Principal Vivian Jansen had doubts whether the leadership training school for boys could survive without its visionary leader.

She put it in God's hands.

"I felt if this is God's work, then we would continue to be able to move on," she said. "We've been blessed."

Father Al Lauer

Sometimes, though, it seemed like everything worked against them. Two weeks after the school opened in 2001, the first principal fell ill and had to resign.

Lauer's health continued on a downward spiral. After he died, his order of the Brothers and Fathers of Pentecost, which ran the school, disbanded.

Brother James Wartman, who provided daily assistance, left to join a Franciscan order in Boston.

But the school bounced back, forming a new non-profit corporation and appointing a board of trustees.

The independent school is not sponsored by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

From his vantage point at 13th and Main in Over-the-Rhine, Lauer witnessed the problems and lure of the streets.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Where: 13th and Main streets, Over-the-Rhine, in the former Old St. Mary's German School. Fall enrollment: 23 in grades K-5. Teachers: Five classroom teachers, one Spanish teacher, one reading tutor, one music teacher. Tuition: $3,200 on a sliding scale. Most students are on full-tuition scholarships funded by corporate and individual donors. Future: The school plans to add one grade each year to eventually become K-12. The school is searching for a facility to accommodate growth. Namesake: The school is named for St. Peter Claver, the patron saint of Negro Missions. The Spanish Jesuit fought against slavery and ministered to slaves in the 1600s in Cartagena, South America's chief slave market. It was on his feast day - Sept. 9, 1999 - that the school's founder, Father Al Lauer, felt called by God to focus on a leadership training school for boys. Information: 929-9164.

He used to say if young boys were smart enough to run a drug ring, they were smart enough to be educated and groomed as community leaders who could be catalysts for change in Over-the-Rhine.

Lauer never lived to see those young men grow up to be the leaders he envisioned. But his death has had a major impact on the school.

"He was the heart and soul of it," said Bob Ketterer of Clifton, president of the board. "But if you felt tired or felt like, 'No, we can't do this,' all you had to do was think of how frail Father Lauer was and if he can do it, we can do it."

Some donors held back, wondering if the school might survive without him, Ketterer said. Today, the school exists on grants and donations from a donor base of 400.

Most students attend on full scholarship. Others pay only part of the $3,200 annual tuition. Jansen and teachers, retired or semi-retired, accept small salaries.

The school, now K-5, adds a grade each year and needs more room to add a sixth grade in 2004-05. The board looked at a building across the street, but the cost to buy and renovate was about $2 million. Plan B is to lease a building nearby.

But the biggest struggle remains transportation for a student population that is transient.

"We want to keep them," Jansen said. "We don't like to see them lose that continuity and that stability."

She has talked with Cincinnati Public Schools about bus service, but the district says the school must have at least 30 students, she said.

There are other struggles, as well. Teaching is sometimes an uphill battle, because many students come from unstable homes or no homes, at all.

But they can and do learn.

On Monday, Vilma J. Lagdameo's class of grades 3-5 was learning Latin. And, they were excited about learning Latin."

"Oooh! Oooh!" the boys said, waving their hands when they knew the answers. They were so excited about singing, "Dona nobis pacem," (Grant us peace) that they stood at their desks to sing. And, they were on such a roll, the class spilled over into part of recess.

It may be business as usual at the school, but Lauer is not forgotten. During Monday's memorial Mass for him, staff and students remembered Lauer with testimony about how he had touched their lives.

One student stood up to talk, but after a period of silence, sat down.

"He had a hard time when he died," Jansen whispered. "He cried."

It was a sad and difficult time for everyone, Jansen recalled.

"He had a presence that was joyful, and a presence that was strong," she said. "We know he is praying for us, because good things continue to happen here."

E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com