BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Ground has been broken for the two new Catholic high schools that are scheduled to open in the fall of 2000.

Archbishop John F. Donoghue broke ground for Blessed Trinity High School in west Roswell Jan. 29 and for Our Lady of Mercy High School in Fayette County on March 2.

The high schools will open with a ninth and tenth grade only and as the tenth grade progresses a new grade will be added through twelfth grade.

“Whenever you break ground for a new school it is exciting,” said Msgr. Terry W. Young, Secretary for Education. “I look forward to integrating these secondary schools into the archdiocesan school system that in the past has been made up primarily of elementary schools.”

Blessed Trinity High School will be located at the same west Roswell site as Queen of Angels Elementary School which is scheduled to open in the fall of 1999. The high school is planned to serve 1,000 students. A building permit has been obtained and construction began Feb. 15. This will also be the site of St. Peter Chanel, a mission of the Church of St. Ann, Marietta. Allen Kronenberger of Catholic Construction Services is serving as the project manager.

Our Lady of Mercy High School will be located in north Fayette County at the intersection of Highway 138 and Holyfield Highway. The high school is planned to serve 450 students. A building permit is pending and construction is expected to begin no later than June 1. Dennis Kelly of Catholic Construction Services is serving as the project manager.

Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung International, Inc. of Savannah are serving as architects for both projects. The general contractor for both projects is Batson-Cook Co. of Atlanta.

Both archdiocesan high schools will feature a comprehensive college preparatory curriculum which will include religion, English, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign language, physical education and health, fine arts, journalism and computer science. A variety of electives will also be available to students at both high schools.

The physical plant of both high schools will include a chapel, cafeteria, media center/library, learning lab, two courtyards, computer labs, an auditorium, specialized band, choral and dance/drama rooms and facilities for campus ministry and guidance programs. Every classroom in both high schools will have five computers and each science lab will have 11 computers.

The high schools will also have a gymnasium, regulation size fields for football, track, soccer, baseball/softball and tennis. Because of the size of the student body at Blessed Trinity High School, the facility will have an additional practice gymnasium.

In addition to the academic and athletic offerings, each high school will provide a wide range of co-curricular activities which will include community service programs and academic, religious and social clubs.

Msgr. Young said that the search for founding principals for both high schools is still ongoing. Numerous candidates are currently being interviewed.

The two Catholic high schools and three Catholic elementary schools, which will open in the fall of 1999, are being built through the “Building the Church of Tomorrow” Capital Campaign held in the archdiocese in 1997.

“When people contribute to a campaign to build a school they also contribute their hopes and dreams,” said Msgr. Young. “When the school has been built you often learn that you have not been able to meet each and every person’s hopes and dreams. While it is an exciting time, it can also be challenging.”

The new elementary schools and their sites are:

• Our Lady of Victory Elementary School will be located in Tyrone, Fayette County, on Kirkley Road near the intersection of Senoia Road. The school will serve 250 students. Nanci Pearson has been named principal.
• Holy Redeemer Elementary School will be located in northeast Fulton County on Old Alabama Road near Haynes Bridge Road. The school will serve 500 students. Mary Reiling has been named principal.
• Queen of Angels Elementary School will be located in west Roswell at the intersection of Highway 92 and Woodstock Road, on the same site as Blessed Trinity High School. The school will serve 500 students. Sister Patricia Clune, CSJ, has been named principal of the elementary school.

An additional elementary school site has yet to be determined. Originally the archdiocese had hoped to build this school at a site on Post Oak Tritt Road in Cobb County. However, after land studies, it was determined that this parcel was not suitable for the construction of a school. Archdiocesan officials are pursuing a new parcel of land in Cobb County for a grade school which is intended to serve parishioners at St. Ann, Marietta, Holy Family, Marietta, Transfiguration, Marietta, St. Thomas the Apostle, Smyrna, and St. Catherine of Siena, Kennesaw.

Msgr. Young is currently developing a coat of arms and a motto for each of the new elementary and high schools.

“We want there to be a strong sense of identity and tradition from the moment the doors to these new schools open,” Msgr. Young said. “While these schools are new, the spiritual and moral formation that is taught in Catholic schools is not a new concept. Our prayer, for each of our students, is that the rich heritage of the Catholic faith becomes the identity of each of these schools.”

The archdiocesan Department of Catholic Education has not determined when the application process for the new high schools will begin. However, it is maintaining a contact list of interested families for each of the high schools. For information or to be added to this list, call (404) 888-7833.

BLESSED TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL -- (L-r) Msgr. Peter Dora, vicar general, Archbishop John F. Donoghue, Msgr. Terry Young, Secretary for Education, Kailyn Wilson of Woodstock, her mother, Christine, and Sandra Smith, superintendent of Catholic schools, participate in the groundbreaking for Blessed Trinity High School at Highway 92 and Woodstock Road in west Roswell. Wilson hopes to be in the first ninth-grade class when the 1,000-student school opens.
Photos by Michael Alexander

SHARING SHOVELS -- (L-r) Bridgette Montgomery and Lenneia Batiste, seventh-graders at St. John the Evangelist School, Hapeville, join Archbishop John F. Donoghue and Msgr. Peter Dora, vicar general, at the site of Our Lady of Mercy High School in north Fayette County. If the students attend Our Lady of Mercy, they will be in the class of 2004.