Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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 (Continued on page 11)