Last week, Frontenac’s Board of Aldermen approved a conditional use permit allowing the former B’nai El building at at 11414 North Forty Dr. to house the St. Austin School, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.   

The private St. Austin School is considered Catholic, though it remains independent. The Board of Aldermen approved a conditional use permit for the school on Dec. 15, after a public hearing that drew no opponents, the paper reported. 

The school, currently housed at the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Des Peres, has 73 students currently but its new permit will allow it have up to 150 students. St. Austin had an option to buy the building, pending the city’s approval, the Post-Dispatch reported. The relocation may occur as soon as the spring semester. 

Through spring 2012, B’nai El was the home of the Saul Mirowitz Day School-Reform Jewish Academy. That school moved to the former Solomon Schechter Day School on the campus of Congregation B’nai Amoona at 348 South Mason Road in Creve Coeur, merging with Schechter to create the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School.

The B’nai El property also has been the home of a Lutheran school and a school for the deaf. Officials of a faith-based Islamic school, Al Manara Academy, were considering moving into B’nai El but were unable to reach an agreement with temple officials in time for the school term beginning in fall 2012.