Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Cross, Page 6
Thursday, May 11,2000
Building for the boom::
Among those participating in the groundbreaking ceremonies for
the addition of Saint Peter the Apostle School are Cathy Scan
lon, principal, Sister Rose Mary Collins, superintendent of
schools, Father Gabriel Cummings, parochial vicar, and Father
Patrick O'Brien, pastor.
Saint Peter the Apostle
Saint Peter the Apostle Catholic
School is launching a construction
project that will provide eight new
classrooms, two labs and a library to
meet growing island educational
demands.
By Marcus Holland
Savannah
rowth on the Islands has spurred
Saint Peter the Apostle Catholic
School to launch a building program
that will provide eight new class
rooms, science and computer labs
and a library for the 2000-2001
school term.
“The islands are growing by leaps
and bounds,” said Cathy Scanlon,
principal at the pre-kindergarten to
eighth-grade school. “We have to
grow to meet the needs of families on
the island.”
The $800,000 building program is
funded by the Saint Peter the Apostle
Catholic Parish and the school.
Father Patrick O’Brien, pastor,
hopes to have additional classes and
will begin a new sixth-grade class
next school term. A second pre
kindergarten class was started for the
1999-2000 school term.
“There’s a great need for a Catholic
education at the present time,” said
O’Brien. “Catholic schools are boom
ing because they offer a good
Christian and academic education.”
The Islands, he pointed out, are
growing, with many young families
moving in.
“Catholic education has been
around for a long time ... it’s well
established,” O’Brien said. “They
offer not only a good academic pro
gram, but a good Christian/Catholic
program. We try to instill in children
the importance of being good citi
zens.”
Scanlon said the school’s goal is to
have two classes for every grade
level and the building program will
go a long way toward providing
classroom space for that goal.
Scanlon taught at Saint Peter the
Apostle for 16 years before being
appointed acting principal for the
1999-2000 school term.
Saint Peter’s accepts children from
other faiths if space is available. A
few openings remain in the 2000-
2001 school year for sixth-graders
and kindergarten.
“We only have a few openings each
year,” O’Brien said. “We have a wait
ing list now for the other grades.”
Classroom space at the school
became so critical for the 1999-2000
school term that the lunchroom had
to be converted into classrooms,
Scanlon said. To provide lunches for
students, the school contracted with
Piggly Wiggly to serve box lunches.
Instructor Jeanette Goldstein handles
the lunch program.
The school remains accredited by
the Florida Catholic Conference dur
ing its transition to add students and
space for the future, Scanlon said.
Saint Peter’s held a ground-break
ing ceremony for the new facility
recently and construction has started.
O’Brien said the building should be
ready by late summer or early fall.
“We hope to start a fund-raising at
a later date,” O’Brien said. “The
fund-raiser will be used for additional
construction at a later date. The
future looks bright for us.”
“The (330) students enjoy a full
academic program, Spanish, French,
computer classes, music and art. We
also have a full athletic program,
from kindergarten up involved,”
Scanlon said.
The facility, located at 7020 Con
cord Road, moved to the islands 20
years ago and in 1993 changed its
name from Nativity of Our Lord to
Saint Peter. The school, until the
move in 1980, was on Victory Drive.
“We have a wonderful school out
here,” said O’Brien. “It’s a neighbor
hood school. We have a good princi
pal and faculty who are extremely
committed and dedicated parents.
The student body is basically neigh
borhood children and the families
know each other well.”
Scanlon said four of the teachers at
the school are former students there.
They are art teacher Helena Russell,
kindergarten instructor Ann Marie
Whiddon, second grade teacher Lisa
Daniel and the music teacher, Mary
Ngo.
Reprinted by permission from the
Savannah Morning News.
Enrollment steady for new school: Saint Frances Cabrini
Parishoners participate in the Spring Festival at Saint Frances
Cabrini Parish. A total of $8,000 was raised for the benefit of the
new school.
Saint Frances Cabrini is ready to
launch what her pastor has described
as a “bold new venture ” - opening a
school It has been talked about and
dreamed about for years.
By Paula G. Williamson
nrollment for the new school at
Saint Frances Cabrini Catholic
Church has been steady, says Betsy
McLeod, who serves as the parish
business manager. “We have gotten a
lot of phone calls from parents who
are interested.”
The initial registration for parish
families and the parish at Saint
Anne's in Richmond Hill went well
and another open registration was
held on May 6 at Saint Frances
Cabrini. Anyone who is interested in
registering a child may call 925-4725
or come by the church office at
11500 Middleground Road during
normal business hours (8:30 a.m.-5
p.m.; closed for lunch 12:30-1:30
p.m. and on religious holidays).
Enrollment is open to both Catholic
and non-Catholic families but prefer
ence will be given to those registered
with Saint Frances Cabrini and sec
ond preference given to those regis
tered at other Catholic parishes.
The parish of Saint Frances Cabrini
Catholic Church on Middleground
Road has taken an “exciting” giant
step toward implementing what has
been dreamed about for years—start
ing a new school from scratch.
Registration for the first two grades
has already begun. The opening is
scheduled for August of this year.
“This is exciting,” said the Rev.
Francis J. Nelson, pastor at Saint
Frances Cabrini. “This is a new mil
lennium, a new century, a new
decade and a new phase in the life of
our parish.”
In the 10 years Nelson has been at
the parish, the school has been talked
about and dreamed about. Not until
the deanery of Savannah decided to
conduct a study did the dream begin
to take shape.
That study was to be a strategic
plan for the local parochial schools in
general. It took the broadest possible
look at all the schools and one of its
conclusions was the need for a new
school on the Southside, Nelson said.
“The logical conclusion was to
place it here at Saint Frances,”
Nelson said. “We have the growth,
the location and the availability of
land.”
The next step was to examine the
parish itself. Without the support of
its parish family, the school would be
doomed to failure, but members of
the parish are more than willing to
invest time, talent and funds in order
to help their community grow.
The addition of a school can
change the dynamics of a church,
Nelson said. “A school can be the
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