By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer

ATLANTA—Five new Catholic schools opened in the Archdiocese of Atlanta in 2000 and 1999. As the schools begin their second or third years of operation, their enrollment figures and other information on their growth is presented below.

HIGH SCHOOLS

Name: Blessed Trinity High School

Address: 11320 Woodstock Road, Roswell

Opened: Fall 2000 with freshmen and sophomores.

Designed To Serve: Eventual student body of 1,000.

Enrollment This Fall: Total enrollment of 474 students. By class this includes 61 juniors (the charter junior class), 181 sophomores and 232 freshmen. A senior class will be added next fall.

Report On Growth: Principal Frank Moore reports that the student body grew from 219 students last year to 474 this year. This student body includes 257 new students. He anticipates growth will continue to be rapid at the school and projects the student body will exceed 700 next year. The number of classroom teachers has doubled from 18 to 36, a second assistant principal and a second guidance counselor have been added to the staff. Teachers worked extensively this summer developing the curriculum for juniors through a grant provided by the Goizueta Foundation.

Name: Our Lady Of Mercy High School

Address: 861 Highway 279, Fairburn

Opened: Fall 2000 with freshmen and sophomores.

Designed To Serve: Eventual student body of 500.

Enrollment This Fall: Total enrollment of 160 students. By class this includes approximately 30 juniors (the charter junior class), approximately 60 sophomores and approximately 70 freshmen. A senior class will be added next fall.

Report On Growth: Director of Admissions Clay Cushman said that the freshman class of 70 is a strong sign for the future of the school and he expects the next freshman class in 2002 to be more than 100 students. He said most eighth-grade graduates from Our Lady of Victory School in Tyrone and from St. John the Evangelist School in Hapeville this year chose to attend Our Lady of Mercy High School. The two strongest feeder parishes, out of eight or nine parishes represented at Our Lady of Mercy, are Holy Trinity Church, Peachtree City, and St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro. Geographically most students come from Fayette County, followed by the Jonesboro area and then south Fulton County, he said. The principal is John Cobis.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Name: Holy Redeemer School

Address: 3380 Old Alabama Road, Alpharetta

Opened: Fall 1999 with kindergarten through eighth grade.

Designed To Serve: Student body of 500.

Enrollment This Fall: Total enrollment of 517 students. The sixth grade has been divided into three sections with approximately 23 students in each section.

Report On Growth: Ardeen West, director of admissions, reports that the school is at capacity with a waiting list in every grade. The principal is Mary Reiling.

Name: Our Lady of Victory School

Address: 211 Kirkley Road, Tyrone

Opened: Fall 1999 as kindergarten through eighth grade. Added a pre-kindergarten program.

Designed To Serve: Student body of 250.

Enrollment This Fall: Total enrollment of 318 students. The school has all-day pre-kindergarten for the second year.

Report On Growth: Principal Sallie McQuaid reports that enrollment grew in one year from 260 to 318. School space was reconfigured this summer to provide three additional classrooms. This year for the first time there are two kindergarten classes, two first-grade classes and two second-grade classes. Last year there were two sixth-grade classes, so this year the school has two seventh-grade classes. The eighth grade has 23 students. The school has 16 feeder parishes, she said, and this year is able to offer daily Mass and has hired Sister Bridget Ann Henderson, BVM, as full-time religious education teacher. While exceeding the original vision of a 250-student school, the principal said that she does not consider Our Lady of Victory to be at capacity and said she sees a great need for quality Catholic education on the south side of the metropolitan Atlanta area.

Name: Queen of Angels School

Address: 11340 Woodstock Road, Roswell

Opened: Fall 1999 with kindergarten through eighth grade.

Designed To Serve: Student body of 500.

Enrollment This Fall: Total enrollment of 503 students.

Report On Growth: Doris Thoms, administrative assistant to the principal, Sister Patricia Clune, CSJ, reports that the school is at capacity with a waiting list of about 350 children.