Catholic Schools Week

Today marks the beginning of Catholic Schools Week. Please pray for the future of Catholic education:

As parochial schools face decreasing enrollment and increasing costs, administrators are looking for ways to build on the past while preparing for the future.

Representatives from area Catholic schools are working together to ensure Catholic education continues to be an option for families.

“This project, this formation, this unification was a risk in faith,” said Sister Mary Jon Wagner, superintendent of Sandusky Central Catholic School.

Addressing issues

Jack Altenburger, superintendent of schools for the Toledo Diocese, said all schools — parochial and public — are facing changing demographics and increasing costs.

During the 1996-97 school year, 23,018 pupils took classes at about 85 elementary schools in the Toledo Diocese, and the diocese’s 14 high schools housed 6,967 students, according to figures Altenburger provided.

This year, the diocese has 75 elementary schools and 16,437 pupils. It has maintained the same number of high schools, but enrollment has dropped to 6,053.

Altenburger said enrollment decreases are a reflection of demographic changes — not the quality of Catholic education.

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Walt Klimaski, president of Norwalk Catholic School, said Jan. 17 that Norwalk St. Paul High School had 235 students, and total district enrollment was 824 students.

It’s amazing, he said, the school has experienced an increase of two students.

“Whenever you do some kind of merger, you tend to lose students,” he said. “The parents have hung pretty … well with the new school.”

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What’s working at Norwalk

Klimaski said Norwalk Catholic School board members looked to Sandusky Central Catholic School administrators for advice to find out what needed to be fixed and what worked.

Although discussions in Norwalk had been going on for about 10 years, school officials heavily pursued the idea of reconfiguration in the past 12-18 months; the pastors initiated the process, Klimaski said.

“The feeling was out there that something had to be done,” he said. “The pastors began their work. … People started talking.”

Klimaski said Bishop Leonard Blair approved the plan to move forward in January 2006, and July 1 marked the official date of change through the diocese to form Norwalk Catholic School.

Throughout those six months, the board hired its support staff and teachers as it prepared for the change. Also, the board selected Klimaski as the district’s president, and he started working part-time in April 2006.

Norwalk has had three major capital campaigns. One about 12 years ago funded construction of an auditorium, convocation center and gymnasium. Another, about eight years ago, helped finance salaries.

The most recent capital campaign assisted in funding the district’s formation.

Prior to this school year, seventh- and eighth-grade pupils took classes at St. Mary and St. Paul elementary schools. The high school students already were together in the current building and remain in the old wing.

A capital campaign funded construction of a parish center adjacent to the high school and an addition to bring all junior high pupils together in the basement of the high school building.

Now, junior high pupils can take accelerated programs because of their proximity to the high school teachers, Klimaski said.

“Getting the two schools together would maximize your resources,” he said.

The capital campaign also allowed officials to add a chapel, a computer laboratory, four science laboratories and a library in the new wing.

Now, the St. Mary campus houses the early childhood center for preschool children and kindergarteners, and grades one through six are at the St. Paul building.

The board named the new system Norwalk Catholic School but maintained the name of St. Paul High School.

“St. Paul High School’s been around for 80-plus years and has an alumni of supporters, and you don’t want to disenfranchise your alumni,” Klimaski said.

Klimaski said the district is in its infancy with many issues board members must tackle. He projected it will take them two to three years to accomplish the tasks.

“I think that, overall, this merger has been received … very well by the community,” he said.

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St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of Catholic schools, pray for us!