Schedule changes and other innovations will mark the beginning of the new year when schools of the archdiocese open on Monday, August 31.

According to Father Daniel J. O’Connor, secretary for education, the new year will bring not only an estimated increase in enrollment but several important changes and innovations.

The estimated increase in student population is indicated by pre-registration figures received in May, and is expected in spite of the fact that the majority of the parishes in the archdiocese have been forced to increase tuition due to steadily rising costs. Father O’Connor said that in several parishes in the archdiocese, tuition has now reached $250 for the first child.

The most dramatic change, according to Father O’Connor, is at St. Mary’s School in Rome where the staff will be composed of entirely lay teachers. They will operate under the administration of Mrs. Doris Ragsdale, who will be principal of the school for the school year 1970-71.

The Dominican Sisters withdrew from St. Mary’s in June of this year, and the Daughters of Charity, who will replace the Sisters, will come to Georgia until September 1971. The people of the parish optioned to keep the school open despite the fact that no religious would be available for the present school year. St. Mary’s School will open on Friday, August 28, following the calendar of public schools in Floyd County.

Another indication of the importance of laymen on the faculties of Catholic schools, according to Father O’Connor, is the elevation of layman, Mr. Gene Brisbane to the position of assistant principal at St. Joseph High School. Sister Mary Placide, CSL, is the new principal of St. Joseph following the resignation of Father Paul Kelley.

Father O’Connor noted that all lay teachers and teaching sisters of the archdiocese will be given complete hospitalization coverage beginning this school year. According to Father O’Connor, this insurance coverage, which been advocated by the Archdiocesan Board of Education for many years, is a very important, though costly, step in providing adequate fringe benefits for the lay teachers and sisters who staff the schools of the archdiocese.

Among the several innovations into the curriculum and schedules of the schools of the archdiocese this year, Father O’Connor said the most important was a new religion curriculum for the elementary grades. The curriculum was drawn up by the Office of Religious Education under the direction of Father Michael Morris, and will provide a complete and ordered approach to the study of religion in all elementary grades.

The second innovation is a schedule change that will be effective in all schools this year. Each Wednesday students will be released one hour early to let principals and faculty work together from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on curriculum planning, departmental planning, and other cooperative efforts. Father O’Connor said this change in schedule will provide the faculties of the schools with time needed but usually unavailable for cooperative planning and coordination in the schools.