By: Deborah Johnson Wood
St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic community has more to celebrate this year than just its 100th anniversary. After steady growth in enrollment, St. Anthony School is planning to break ground on its third building addition since 2000.
"The student count has increased every year for the past six to eight years," said St. Anthony parish priest and school administrator Father Mark Przybysz. "We've gone from 250 students to 440, and we're now the largest school in the diocese." Church leaders predict continued growth over the next decade due to an increase in west side housing.
A single private donation of $1.2 million precludes the need for a capital campaign.
The six 750-square-foot classrooms will be lined with windows for natural light and heat. Plans include a photovoltaic system as a secondary energy source for lighting.
"We're looking at the type of lighting we'll use because kids react to lighting," said Project Designer Jon Blair of Integrated Architecture, the firm retained to design the addition.
The expansion will bring all students together in one location and centralize classes. Due to lack of space in the current building, art class is in a makeshift area in the balcony of the gym. The Spanish class is taught from a rolling cart. Preschool and daycare are in the lower level of the church building, separate from the school. The construction frees up an existing classroom, which will become the Youth Ministry Center, something the parish has not had.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for us," said Father Przybysz. "We're going to be doing a lot of future expansion to the church, and we're putting a new gym on the school. This lays the groundwork for those projects."
Source: Father Mark Przybysz, St. Anthony of Padua Parish; Jon Blair, Integrated Architecture; Patrick Murphy, St. Anthony of Padua Parish; Justin Longstreth, Moore & Bruggink, Inc.
Deborah Johnson Wood is the Development News Editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be reached at [email protected].
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