BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Athens residents have launched a “Building Upon Faith” Capital Campaign in the hopes of building the first Catholic high school in northeast Georgia.

According to Mike Morris, chairman of the high school steering committee, the campaign has already generated over $1 million in pledges.

“We hope to have the additional $2.3 million in pledges by the end of the year,” Morris said. “We will be beginning a big push this fall.”

Barbara Dooley and her husband Vince, athletic director at the University of Georgia, are parishioners at St. Joseph’s Church, Athens, and are serving as the chairpersons of the high school development campaign which has a goal of $7.5 million.

The planned school, which has been named St. Joseph’s High School, will serve students in grades 9-12 and will be housed on a 104-acre site on Lavender Road less than five miles away from St. Joseph’s Elementary School which currently serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

In addition to the high school, a middle school will be constructed to serve students in grades six through eight. Both the middle school and high school will be located on the Lavender Road site, which was purchased in October 1997 for $220,000 by Northeast Georgia Catholic High School, Inc., the non-profit parent organization which developed the idea for the high school.

The timetable for the school campaign calls for the opening of the middle school in 2000 with the first freshman class beginning in the high school simultaneously. A successive grade will be added to the high school each year until the high school is complete in 2003.

“We hope to pull students from Athens, Winder, Jefferson, Monroe and Gainesville,” said Morris. “I think when people hear what we’re doing they will come see what we are all about.”

Morris, a Baptist, said that he was attracted to the education provided by Catholic schools when he was searching for a school for his daughter.

“We visited all the private schools in the area and the school we chose for our daughter was St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School,” he said. “The Catholic philosophy of educating the whole child was very appealing to me and I think will be very appealing to prospective parents who are looking for a private school for their child.”

The high school is projected to serve approximately 500 students and to have a football and soccer stadium, tennis complex, library/media center, science lab, computer lab and a gymnasium.

“We not only want a school that has the benefit of a Catholic education,” Morris said. “We know that to be competitive we have to offer these things to our students. We want them to be proud of where they go to school.”

St. Joseph Elementary School, which opened in 1949, will continue to serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade at the existing facility located at 134 Prince Ave. The school enrolled 370 students in 1997-98.

Lay people began the high school project as a private independent effort. However, they hope to become an archdiocesan school if the following provisions set by the archdiocese are met:

• The new schools must comply with the directives of Catholic Construction Services, Inc.
• The campaign must receive $3.3 million in pledges.
• The steering committee must show a financial projection which will ensure the archdiocese that the debt for the school will be paid off within 25 years.
• School officials will guarantee that the curriculum and all other professional requirements are in compliance with the standards set by the archdiocesan Department of Catholic Education.

“For over a generation the people of Athens have wanted a high school,” said Msgr. Peter Dora, vicar general and former pastor of St. Joseph’s Church. “In the past it always seemed an impossibility. Over the last few years, because of the area’s growth and people’s awareness of the opportunity for private education, a high school has become a realistic possibility which is now beginning to take form. The archdiocese hopes to see this dream become a reality.”

According to Msgr. Dora, once the school has received archdiocesan status, a tuition assistance program, which will be partially funded by the “Building the Church of Tomorrow” Capital Campaign, will be made available to assist active Catholic families with the cost of education. Funds will be awarded on the basis of need and the availability of moneys for this purpose.

The archdiocese will also provide financial assistance to build the high school if the provisions established by the archdiocese are met.

“Once the $3.3 million is raised for construction, the archdiocese will arrange financing for at least $4 million to cover the remaining costs,” Msgr. Dora said.

Morris credits Msgr. Dora with his assistance in making this project take another step toward becoming a reality.

“(He) has been involved in this project since day one and he has been our guiding light,” Morris said. “He is making sure that we get the resources and expertise we need to make this project successful.”

Members of the steering committee began meeting in 1996 to promote the development of a Catholic high school in Athens. Members include Sister Teresa Ballisty, IHM, principal of St. Joseph’s Elementary School, Father Joseph Chaloux, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church, Stephen Lober, Debra Keane, Michael Morris, Eve Morris and Richard Dunne. The committee has begun an informal relationship with an architect. In addition, Sister Ballisty has developed a curriculum committee.

A project feasibility study conducted at the University of Georgia indicated that 84 percent of St. Joseph’s Parish households and 67 percent of other households strongly support this undertaking. Less than one percent of those surveyed oppose the project. Rigorous academics, college prep classes, a safe environment and the opportunity to receive a Catholic education were the reasons survey participants said that they strongly support a new Catholic high school in the area. For information on the project, call (706) 549-6439.