Chicagoland

Northwest Side regional school on track for 2016

By Chicago Catholic
Sunday, September 20, 2015

Northwest Side regional school on track for 2016

Kelly Szlak-Aimone and Dennis Conley visit with Mary Ellen Gold, a second-grade teacher at St. Tarcissus, as parents met with students and teachers at St. Tarcissus School, 6040 W. Ardmore Ave., on Aug. 30. The meeting followed a community Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Francis Kane to learn about the new regional school that will be launched on Northwest Side in 2016. (Karen Callaway/Catholic New World)
A little girl informs Auxiliary Bishop Francis Kane and Father Michael Solazzo, pastor of St. Tarcissus, that she says her prayers as parents met with students and teachers at St. Tarcissus School, 6040 West Ardmore Ave., on Aug. 30. (Karen Callaway/Catholic New World)

Plans to create a regional Catholic school on the Northwest Side of Chicago are on pace for the school to open two campuses in the fall of 2016.

The two campuses, both of which will offer all grade levels, will be located at St. Pascal, 6143 W. Irving Park Road, and St. Tarcissus, 6040 W. Ardmore Ave. St. Cornelius, 5430 W. Foster, and Our Lady fo Victory, 5212 N. Laramie Ave., will sponsor the new school as well, and all four parishes will support the new school.

The plan is intended to strengthen Catholic education in an area where there were several schools that were not able to operate on their own.

“A Catholic education is proven to benefit our faith and civic communities, and it is vital that we provide the opportunity for future generations to have access to it,” said Archbishop Cupich in a statement announcing the planning process in February. “As Catholic adults, it is up to us to make decisions that will continue this legacy for our children. We welcome the challenges of working together, to adapt as needed, and to build a sustainable system that ensures a transformative Catholic education in this region of Chicago.”

The school will feature a new global studies curriculum that includes a rigorous math and science program, world language instruction and a focus on the humanities. All four parishes have hosted or will host meetings to share information about the new curriculum.

The planning phase will end this fall and move to the implementation phase, according to the Office of Catholic Schools. That will include hiring a principal, then hiring teachers. Teachers from the four parochial schools that are coming together will have preference in being interviewed for positions at the new school.

Planning group representatives from the four parishes spent months analyzing and evaluating parent surveys, participating in school tours, reading independent architectural/ engineering site reports and studying parish and school trends to determine the recommended sites for the regional school.

Archbishop Cupich announced that he had approved the recommended sites in July.

During the final two phases of the planning process, the local and regional groups will work with the archdiocese to determine the school’s spiritual charter and governance model. As the spiritual charter is developed, the school’s name will be determined with a collaborative process involving community feedback that best represents the spiritual charter.

Because all four parishes will support the school, resources such as technology, furniture and equipment from all four existing schools could be used at the new school, according to information on the Office of Catholic Schools website. Once the old schools are closed, St. Cornelius and Our Lady of Victory can determine what to do with their buildings, although there could be some restrictions on future uses.

This will not be the first regional school in the archdiocese. Northside Catholic Academy has two campuses and is sponsored by St. Gertrude, St. Gregory, St. Henry, St. Ignatius, St. Ita. St. Jerome and St. Timothy parishes, and in 2013 was named a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School.

Several other schools, including the new Tolton Academy, are sponsored by two parishes. In the southwest suburbs, four parishes — St. Elizabeth Seton, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Julie Billiart and St. Stephen Deacon and Martyr, came together to start a brand new school.

Advertising