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Demand growing for Catholic high school here

October 2, 2004 1:07 am

Every morning a group of students gathers in the sanctuary of Nativity of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church in Spotsylvania County to pray, read a biblical passage and listen to any school announcements.

But the 34 students don't attend the church on Spotswood Furnace Road. They aren't even Greek Orthodox.

The seventh- to 10th-graders are enrolled at Mariamante Academy, the first school in the Fredericksburg area that offers a Roman Catholic education but is not associated with the Catholic Diocese of Arlington or a religious order. The private school is temporarily located at the Greek Orthodox church.

Though the school is not affiliated with the Arlington diocese, it hopes to be someday, said Louise Desilets, the school's headmaster, who also teaches religious courses.

"If we're going to teach the Catholic faith we have to defer to their [diocesan] guidance and wisdom," she said.

Mariamante Academy is also the only Catholic school for high school students in the area.

The next diocesan high school is scheduled to be built in Prince William County. A construction date has yet to determined.

Frustrated with waiting, some local Catholic parents have enrolled their children at Mariamante, while others have joined a separate initiative sponsored by some Catholic business leaders who want to build a high school in Stafford County.

St. Michael the Archangel High School is scheduled to open in fall 2005 west of Stafford Courthouse.

But are these truly Catholic schools?

Unless they are run by a religious order or recognized by the diocese, they aren't allowed to have the word "Catholic" in their school names, said Soren Johnson, spokesman for the Arlington diocese.

Established in 1974, the Diocese of Arlington includes over 394,000 registered Catholics living in 21 counties. It is bordered by the Potomac River on the north and east and by West Virginia on the west. Its southern border runs from Shenandoah County down to Spotsylvania.

There are about 28,000 registered Catholics in the Fredericksburg area.

The diocese, which has built 10 schools in the last decade, has seen Catholic school enrollment grow 32 percent during that time. There are now more than 18,000 students in the 42 Catholic schools in the diocese, Johnson said.

Locally, Holy Cross Academy on U.S. 17 in southern Stafford, St. Patrick Catholic School in Spotsylvania and St. William of York in North Stafford--all part of the diocese--provide private Catholic education to younger students.

Principals at the schools said the demand is so high they have student waiting lists.

Catholic students from Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania are encouraged to attend the Prince William high school once it's completed, Johnson said.

But Matt Britton, chairman of St. Michael Archangel, said it's too long a commute for many area parents. It's a 30-minute one-way drive that could be longer with rush-hour traffic, he said.

"We're told that there will be nothing here for 20 years, and that's an awful lot of time to wait," he said. "While we'll love to be part of the diocese, we are going to move forward as a private school."

Officials from both St. Michael and Mariamante are working with the diocese to be recognized as Catholic schools.

But the schools have to be in existence and operating for a minimum of five years to be eligible, according to the diocese's Catholic school policies.

A school can enter a "candidacy period" for two years. During that time, the school must demonstrate its commitment to Catholic education through a list of specific steps.

Upon receiving the Catholic designation, independent private schools are eligible to request to participate in educational programs developed for schools sponsored by the diocese.

Alison Kelly of Stafford said she wants her four sons to have a solid Catholic education to shape their worldview.

So when she learned of Mariamante Academy, she enrolled her oldest son, Steve.

"He needed a unique kind of learning environment that would reinforce my Catholic values, challenge him academically and broaden his thinking with a legitimate diversity of ideas," she said.

There's a chance that she might send her sons to the new diocesan high school in Prince William once it's completed. But she's not sure.

Either way, she commends the groups who are behind Mariamante and St. Michael.

"I think it's great that lay people are rolling up their sleeves to pitch in where the diocese can't help," Kelly said.

--Staff librarian Craig Schulin contributed to the story.

To reach JESSICA ALLEN: 540/368-5036 jiallen@freelancestar.com