BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Applications will be available Sept. 1 for the two new Catholic high schools that are scheduled to open in the archdiocese in September 2000. Both schools will accept applicants for the ninth and tenth grade in their initial year.

Families already on the contact list will automatically be mailed an application. Applications will also be available at feeder parishes during presentations. Dates for these presentations will be announced in the future.

Tuition for the new high schools has yet to be determined. However, according to Msgr. Terry Young, Secretary for Education, the tuition is expected to be in the same range as the tuition at St. Pius X High School, Atlanta. For the 1999-2000 academic year the tuition at St. Pius is $6,075. A tuition assistance fund, which will be administered by the school, will be 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 application process consists of three steps. First, families are required to complete the archdiocesan application and send it to the Department of Catholic Education, 680 West Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30308 with a $50 application fee. After the department has received the student’s application along with a parish verification form and a previous school form, the student will be required to take an entrance exam. The schedule of testing dates and locations will be published at a later date. When the test results have been assessed, if admission is granted, an acceptance letter and registration packet will be sent to the families. A tuition payment will be required to hold the student’s place in the school. Families will be contacted by early April 2000.

The new high schools that are accepting applications are:

--Our Lady of Mercy High School, which will be located in north Fayette County at the intersection of Highway 138 and Holyfield Highway. The high school will serve between 400-500 students. A schematic design has been developed by Hussey, Gay, Bell and Deyounge of Savannah. The land excavation has begun. Construction should begin by the fall of 1999. Sister Dawn Gear, GNSH, has been named principal.

--Blessed Trinity High School, which will be located in west Roswell at the intersection of Highway 92 and Woodstock Road. This is the same site as Queen of Angel Elementary School which is scheduled to open in the fall of 1999. The high school will serve 1,000 students. A schematic design has been developed by Hussey, Gay, Bell and Deyounge of Savannah. Zoning permits have been obtained and construction has begun.

All new archdiocesan high schools will feature a college preparatory curriculum.

The two high schools opening in the fall of 2000, and the three new elementary schools which are scheduled to open in the fall of 1999, are being built through the “Building the Church of Tomorrow” capital campaign held in the archdiocese in 1997.

To request an application form, call (404) 885-7232.