As the population of the diocese swells, building projects are enabling several Catholic elementary schools to expand curriculum and services to meet the growing needs of students.

Enhanced facilities have principals excited about a broad range of offerings, from computer labs to libraries, to more emphasis on art and music, to the addition of preschools.

Principals also say that a vital part of the planning process has been the commitment of pastors, parishioners and parents to the goals of Catholic education. Funding for the projects was provided by financial support at the parish level and, in most cases, contributions from the diocese’s capital campaign in 2002.

St. John Notre Dame School, Folsom

In November, Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Garcia broke ground at St. John Notre Dame School in Folsom for a 9,000 square foot addition to the school. The building is a free-standing facility and is separate from the existing classrooms, said principal Susan Halfman.

The new education center will have a kindergarten, library, computer lab, faculty lounge, religious education offices, additional student bathrooms and a large multipurpose room. Older buildings have been removed from the property and construction is set to begin, Halfman said.

She credits Father Ignatius Haran, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish, with being the creative spark and financial impetus behind the project.

“I think he had this idea as soon as he arrived,” she said.

When he visited the teacher’s lounge, which was a converted maintenance shed, he told her he knew they could do better than that.

“He said we can’t always compete with public schools in salary and benefits but at least we can take the teachers out of the shed,” Halfman said with a laugh.

Founded in 1962 and originally staffed by the Sisters of Notre Dame, the school is now staffed totally by lay teachers. It has two kindergarten sessions plus one class each from first through eighth grades. The teachers are assisted by full-time aides in the lower classes, and part-time aides in upper grades.

“The enrollment for both the school and the religious education program is maxed out,” Halfman said. More than 700 parish religious education students also will use the new facility.

“We’re land-locked now. We use every nook and cranny,” Halfman said, including the old rectory which originally was the former convent.

“Now we’ll have rooms dedicated to the subject taught,” she said. “Instead of a Spanish teacher going room to room students will come to her.”

The addition will provide space to expand both the Spanish and art programs. “The computer lab also will be a huge asset,” Halfman said. Completion is scheduled for August.

St. John Vianney School, Rancho Cordova

St. John Vianney School in Rancho Cordova dedicated its new facility, called the Dominican Center of Learning, on Nov. 16.

The new wing, a stand-alone building, was named in honor of the San Rafael Dominican Sisters who staffed the school from its founding in 1960 until 1972.

Principal Vicky Andrews said the new building has a library, a computer lab, restrooms and storage facilities.

She said one of the recommendations from a recent accreditation visit by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges was that the school pursue a multi-purpose room for its computer lab and library.

Previously the computers were mixed in with library. Now the computer lab is in a separate room enabling entire classes to be taught together, Andrews said.

The school has an accelerated program to improve reading skills in third through eighth grades. “We were running out of shelf space in the old library,” she noted.

In addition to parish and diocesan funding, computer chip-maker Intel was a large financial contributor through its PC Pals program.

Students in the religious education program also will use the facility, Andrews said.

She expressed gratitude to Father Martin Moroney, pastor of St. John Vianney, and parishioners for their continuing support. “When the pastor supports a project, it gets done,” she said.

St. Mary School, Sacramento

Bishop Garcia will dedicate the Sister Cabrini Riordan Education Center currently under construction at St. Mary School in Sacramento at an 11 a.m. Mass on March 14.

The new facility houses administrative offices, a campus ministry and parish religion coordinator’s office, chapel, science lab, art and music rooms, two resource rooms for religious education classes and a large library-multimedia center that has a networked computer lab.

“It’s a free-standing facility that will replace the old convent,” principal Laura Allen said.

The addition is dedicated to Sister Cabrini Riordan, director of religious education at St. Mary Parish for several years, who succumbed to cancer after a long struggle.

“Sister Cabrini stayed and kept going with religious education while she battled the disease for several years,” Allen said. “There were times when she was in the hospital during the day for treatment and would come to religious education that night.”

Noting that Sister Cabrini wanted the best education possible for students, the principal said that the walls of the chapel are lettered in her honor with the passage, “Let the children come to me.”

The school at 58th and N Streets in Sacramento has classes for kindergarten through eighth grade. New facilities will give added curriculum emphasis to art, music and science, Allen said.

“The parish has had a great need to get the religious education classes in one space,” she said.

To supplement the parish and diocesan capital campaign contributions, the school is promoting a “Paving the Way” program. Hand-painted commemorative tiles will line the entrance to the library. (For more information, contact Allen at (916) 452-1100.)

St. Thomas More School, Paradise

Improvements at St. Thomas More School in Paradise are proceeding from the ground up, including a new septic system. The Child Development Center is being doubled in size, and will be able to accommodate more than a dozen youngsters in its new infant and toddler room. The preschool will be able to double its student enrollment from 30 to 60 students.

About $16,000 of new playground equipment includes everything from side-by-side slides to overhead rings and a climbing wall. The formerly beige school has been freshly painted teal blue with brick red doors and white trim. White wrought iron fencing is being installed around the school’s perimeter to enhance student safety.

A 28-by-42-foot portable building (formerly a kindergarten classroom) has been relocated and is being refurbished to become a library, computer lab and Title I resource center.

“In the future, parishioners will be able to come to the school library on weekends to check out books and have access to the Internet on computers,” said principal Richard Priest. “Money for all the non-playground equipment improvements has come from a parish facilities maintenance fund. If it weren’t for the parish, the school wouldn’t be here. We want our changes in the school to spill over and benefit the parish.”

All Hallows School, Sacramento

All Hallows School in Sacramento opened a new preschool and extended care facility last fall. The facility also provides space for an extended care program for children ages 2 through 12. There are currently 26 children enrolled in the preschool.

“There’s a huge need for child care in this area,” principal Patricia Peterson said.

She also cited the ongoing need to prepare pre-kindergarten students as one of the reasons the school decided to convert the old convent into the modern facility.

Founded in 1948, the kindergarten through eighth grade school has two women religious on staff: Religious of the Virgin Mary Sisters Asteria Galacio and Fe Bigwas.

Sister Bigwas is the choir, music and religion teacher at the school, in addition to her duties as religious education coordinator. “She wears a lot of hats,” Peterson noted.

She credits Verbum Dei Father Rodolfo Llamas and Father Erwin Mesiona, co-pastors, and “a very committed parish” for providing support for the renovation.

Dana Mildebrath, Herald correspondent, contributed to this story.

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