"I knew you'd be here."

Written by: Eric Prister

There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.

Whether after a long day of work, after two weeks on a national bus tour, or after traveling to a fantasy land with munchkins and flying monkeys, the saying rings true—there really is no place like home.

But home can come in many forms, and for some grade school students in Columbus, Ohio, their school is a second home. Current students and alumni alike of St. James the Less school in Columbus described the school as a a second home where they always felt welcome and safe.

St. James the Less is a school thriving thanks to its amazing staff led by Mrs. Yvonne Schwab, winner of the 2011 National Catholic Education Association Distinguished Principal Award and the heart and soul of the St. James the Less community.

Originally a home to a large Italian population, the school was on a steady decline as recently as a decade ago. The school’s enrollment was at an all-time low and Yvonne served as the physical education teacher. As the student body’s numbers dropped toward 200, Yvonne took over the administration and spearheaded a turnaround, inviting the cities Latino population to begin enrolling at St. James. When she started as principal, the school had two hispanic children. Now, more than 250 Latino students attend St. James, making up more than half of the 482 children at the school.

Through the blessing of a school choice program in Ohio and the wonderful hospitality shown by St. James the Less, low-income families are able to send their children to receive a quality education—nearly 75 percent of students at St. James qualify for reduced or free lunches.

Because of its storied past and bright future, graduate Elisa D. Fitzmartin wrote a children’s book on the history of St. James the Less in 2012. Written from the perspective of a tree planted in the courtyard at the school from the very beginning, “God’s Silent Soldier” chronicles the rise, the fall, and the rebirth of St. James, and lends an incredible perspective from those who consider themselves a part of the St. James the Less community:

With the neighborhood growing and changing, the tree noticed that the parish families were growing older and moving away. There were fewer and fewer children in the school each year, and fewer and fewer families in the pews on Sunday. Then, one day, the church bells broke and went silent. There was no money to repair them. The tree did not understand what was happening to the once vibrant and bustling St. James Community. But, the tree had learned to have faith in God. The tree stood tall, prayed, and grew a little.

One, later August day as the new school year began, the tree wondered how many children would be returning to the almost empty classrooms. The tree was surprised when there seemed to be a few more children stepping off the school buses. They were coming into the courtyard where the teachers were greeting them. The tree was so thrilled that he did not notice at first that the children were speaking a strange language. The tree had heard many different immigrant languages throughout the years, but this was a new one. With the joy that filled everyone’s hearts on that glorious day, the tree realized that St. James had reached out beyond their parish borders to call out to children from all parts of the city. The new children and their families were coming. The tree stood strong and grew.

Under the watchful eye of this tree, Yvonne and her staff have worked tirelessly to transform St. James the Less, while still holding on to the values that have been there from the start.

Yvonne said that she was working late at the school one night (which she does almost every night) when she heard a knock from outside. When she opened the door, one of her students was standing there. She asked him what he was doing there, and he said he had run away from home. “I knew you’d be here,” he told her.

In a shifting city with shifting populations and a shifting focus, one thing has always remained the same at St. James the Less—it’s home, and there’s no place like it.