LAWRENCE -- As it was hoisted high off the ground by a crane, the final beam to complete the superstructure of the new Lawrence Catholic Academy (LCA) building proudly bore three flags -- the U.S. flag, the Vatican flag, and the flag of the school. It also had a small Christmas tree sitting atop it.

The tree, Lee Kennedy Co. project superintendent Matt Sosnowski explained, is a tradition among construction crews to bring safety for the workers and success to the project.

Father Paul O'Brien, president of Lawrence Catholic Academy, needed no tree to reassure him of the project's success. This March, ground broke on a $30 million, 42,000-square-foot campus to replace the crumbling century-old buildings that make up LCA. On Aug. 12, the final beam was put into place at a "topping-off" ceremony. At the current pace of construction, the new LCA will be able to welcome students at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.

"I do not, for once, have much to say other than thank God for this," Father O'Brien said at the ceremony.

LCA students, faculty, and alumni dating back to the 1960s signed their names on the beam before it was added to the structure, along with Lee Kennedy construction workers, Archdiocese of Boston Superintendent of Schools Eileen McLaughlin, and local dignitaries, including Lawrence Mayor Brian A. DePena. Current LCA students drew pictures and traced their handprints on the beam. Maple Lucey, who begins pre-k at LCA this year, was cautioned not to sign her name on the Vatican flag.

"I love this school!" student Elise Nova wrote on the beam. "Great job!"

"After all the years of designing this and raising money for it, we all still regularly say 'Can you believe this is actually real?'" Father O'Brien told The Pilot. "To see it concretely, right there, and to know that a year from now it will be done, is indescribably wonderful."

The cost of the new school has been almost completely funded, largely by philanthropists and nonprofits. The Yawkey Foundation contributed $3 million to the project.

"It's inspiring to see what will be made possible for the high-potential, deserving, promising children and young adults who will be attending Lawrence Catholic in the future," Yawkey Foundation Chief Program Officer Alicia Verity told The Pilot.

She said that, despite its aging buildings, LCA is giving its students a quality education with caring, committed teachers.

"Going forward, they'll have a facility that reflects that excellence and dignity and potential," she said.

Lorena Zoia teaches math to seventh and eighth graders in a small classroom on the first floor of the current LCA building. She told The Pilot that the new building will give her more space for her to move around and for her students to learn.

"It's just about kids and what they are going to get with this new building," she said.

The new LCA will be the first newly constructed urban Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Boston in over half a century. It will be able to accommodate 590 students as opposed to the current capacity of 475, and have spaces for art, music, social skills, and health classes, as well as expanded pre-K and early childhood education.

"It's not just what we're able to give our students, it's what we'll be able to give to our community," LCA Assistant Principal Jaymie Harrington told The Pilot.

He added that the new building "eliminates a lot of the problems we've had sustaining a 100-plus-year-old building."

"It's a blessing to be able to be here and be part of this project," he said.