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By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer
DECATUR—As renovations in facilities and curriculum continue,
the newly established St. Peter Claver Regional School is at capacity, with
student spaces available only in the pre-kindergarten classes.
The regional elementary school, formerly a parish school, was
established at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Decatur, and is open to students
from multiple parishes. Parents of students who were enrolled at Our Lady of
Lourdes and St. Anthony’s schools in Atlanta received two letters, one in
late April and another in early May, stating that their children would be able
to transfer to the regional school automatically this spring after the
archdiocese announced that it would no longer fund those two schools.
According to Judith Mucheck, superintendent of Catholic schools, a
parish school is established to service the needs of the parish community
children first and is an outreach mission of the parish. Though it also accepts
children from other parishes there is some preferential treatment for children
of the parish.
A regional school is set up by the archdiocese to serve a wider
geographical area of parishes. As a regional school, the archdiocesan
Department of Catholic Education will actively exercise oversight of St. Peter
Claver.
In establishing the regional school, the archdiocese committed to
improving the facilities and the curriculum at the pre-kindergarten through
eighth-grade school. The first phase of construction is now underway and will
include a computer lab, a science lab and a library. Phase two will include a
gymnasium. Construction on the new gymnasium is slated to begin this fall, and
should be completed by the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year, according to
George Barrie of Catholic Construction Services.
Mucheck said additional classrooms will not be constructed until
officials determine the need in light of enrollment figures.
Queen Grady, the principal of Sts. Peter and Paul School, who was
asked to become principal of St. Peter Claver, said that the regional school
has 270 registered students.
Of that number, she said, 113 were students at Sts. Peter and Paul
this past year, 58 enrolled from Our Lady of Lourdes School and 52 enrolled
from St. Anthony’s School. Forty-seven new students did not attend any of
the three Catholic schools last year. A waiting list held 16 names June 28.
Most faculty and personnel for the school are in place, Grady
said. The majority of the teachers come from the faculty of Sts. Peter and Paul
School. Seven teachers from St. Anthony’s or Our Lady of Lourdes have come
on board to teach at the regional school, including Lourdes’ lead teacher,
Carolyn Meadows, who will serve as the resource teacher at St. Peter Claver,
and Lesa Atkins, lead teacher at St. Anthony’s, who will serve as the
assistant principal.
New positions at the school include a guidance counselor, a
development director, a technologist and a full-time coordinator of religious
education. Additional office personnel have also been hired.
Grady is excited about the diverse capabilities the new staff
possesses.
“Being a small school, so many of us had to wear a multitude
of hats, which can cause us to burn out very quickly,” she said. “Now
we have specialists coming in, specializing in their area of expertise.
It’s really a blessing for us and will give us the opportunity to provide
an enhanced curriculum for the students.”
Grady and other faculty members are in the process of upgrading
the implementation of the school’s curriculum, working with Hannah Martin,
archdiocesan director of curriculum and staff development, and with the
superintendent. They are also updating the school handbook and some school
policies, interviewing additional personnel and testing children.
“There are so many wonderful changes taking place that we
could never have done as one individual school,” Grady said. “This
really is a blessing.”
Grady said that she is looking forward to the first day of school.
“I see a staff of people excited about coming to the school
and a lot of smiling children entering the building,” she said. “For
some, there might be some mixed feelings and I understand that. Some might be
kind of nervous because this is a transition for them.”
Grady said that teachers will do team-building “to help make
the students feel welcome.”
“We want to be able to do things to show (the students) that
this is their new school and their new home,” she said. “We need to
make sure that they feel comfortable.” |
