GOFFSTOWN – Saint Anselm College has offered its expertise and resources to parents of the Villa Augustina, who have voted in favor of raising $400,000 to buy the elementary/ middle school.

The informal partnership between the two Catholic schools was announced at a meeting Sunday, Feb. 10, attended by roughly 260 parents, teachers and other supporters who want the Villa Augustina School to stay open past June, when the religious order that founded it 90 years ago will cut off its financial and institutional ties.

Fr. Jonathan DeFelice, president of the college, told parents he is confident the school will continue.

“If I did not believe in the future of this school, I would not be here.” DeFelice said. “I am deeply committed to Catholic education on every level, but if there were no chance for success, no chance for excellence, no chance for a truly vibrant future, I would not be here. Despite the challenges ahead, I think it can be accomplished.”

DeFelice told parents the professional staff and faculty of Saint Anselm College would assist them in strategic planning and fundraising. He said students could also volunteer as well, making fundraising calls and pitching in elsewhere.

After the Religious of Jesus and Mary announced in December its plan to stop operating the school, parents organized the Villa Future corporation to raise money for capital costs, purchasing the school and other expenses related to their takeover of the school.

The Villa Augustina Leadership Team is heading up that effort. Since December, the team has been negotiating the terms of the purchase. A month ago, it became clear that it would cost parents $400,000 to buy the school. That became a serious obstacle for the leadership team, said Carol Barrett, the chairman.

As team members struggled over if and how to proceed, Barrett said DeFelice became involved.

“It really was a turning point with us as we went through this process,” Barrett said. “With his support, we’re going to get over that hump and still get on with our capital campaign.”

After a private meeting with DeFelice, Barrett signed a letter of intent on Jan. 28 to buy the Villa Augustina, transferring the school building and the surrounding 35 acres of land to the St. Claudine Villa Academy, the new corporation parents formed to buy the school. On Sunday, parents authorized the leadership team to take the next step and draft a purchase- and-sale agreement.

In the meantime, Barrett said parents who have been putting off the decision until the meeting should register their children for the upcoming academic year. The school is budgeting for 200 students, but has a capacity for 380. Current enrollment is about 260. An open house is set for Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m., and the registration deadline is Feb. 22.

Several parents at the meeting urged their peers to register their children soon.

“You guys have to get on and enroll your kids,” said Elizabeth Whitehead of Manchester. “You’re not going to have anything. You have to fight to the end.”

Parents at the Sunday meeting also authorized the team to raise $400,000 for purchasing the school. DeFelice said that goal is feasible.

“In my conversations over the past weeks, I heard lots of willingness to find the sources of that funding,” he said. “I believe there is a group of people and institutions that can be gathered to accomplish the goal.”

Parents have already made some headway in fundraising, collecting more than $145,000 from approximately 60 families in the extended Villa community as of Monday, Feb. 11.

Once they reach $200,000, an anonymous donor has pledged to match that amount, according to Gary Bouchard, a parent spokesman.

But that money can only be used for capital costs, such as repairs, upgrades and renovations to the building, not its purchase. Parents also have another $100,000 anonymous gift that is unrestricted. However, Bouchard said the leadership team plans on devoting that to the capital fund, too. He said a top priority is enclosing the exterior stairs and refurbishing some of the bathrooms in the school.

DeFelice said the success in fundraising so far is impressive. “Recognizing that I might be accused of exaggeration, I would say the accomplishments to this point have been nearly miraculous,” he said.

Once the school is on secure financial footing for the near future, DeFelice said Saint Anselm and the Villa could explore some continuing relationships through faculty advisers, student mentors, opportunities for student teachers and spiritual support from the Campus Ministry office.

So far, the two institutions have led parallel lives. The Villa Augustina School was founded 90 years ago by the Religious of Jesus and Mary. Saint Anselm College, which is a Benedictine school, is a little older, dating back to 1895.

Though the college is fairly secure today, it has faced tough times as well.

“At least twice in our college’s history we faced closure — early on after a destroying fire, and during World War II when enrollment had dropped so precipitously that the campus became the home of the Army Air Corps and some of the monks had to find work elsewhere,” DeFelice said.