Catholic high school plans

A Catholic high school could be coming to the area.

Odessans have been talking about opening a Catholic high school in the western part of the parish for years, St. Mary’s Central Catholic School assistant principal Bethany McKee-Alexander said. Now, the San Angelo diocese has begun moving forward with the concept. A committee, formed to review the proposal, approved it, and a company in Dallas, has been contracted to do a study about whether a Catholic is feasible.

The study will focus on determining if there are enough students to populate a school. It will also look at the possibility of parishioner support. Neither St. Mary’s nor St. Ann’s have enough room to house a high school expansion on their campuses, so a new campus would have to be built and that takes money.

“The start-up cost would be very great because we’d most likely have to start from scratch,” Bishop Michael Pfeifer of the San Angelo diocese said.

There is also concern about the economy. A Catholic education has great value, Pfeifer said, because it takes the whole individual into account. However, this kind of education costs money and enough parents have to be willing and able to pay for this kind of education to make the school possible.

If the diocese concludes there is enough interest to support the school, it will probably be based in between Midland and Odessa, Pfeifer said, since parents from both schools have expressed interest over the years.

Parent Rachel Lechuga sent both of her daughters to St. Mary’s. Attending the school taught her daughters everything from character to how to have good work habits and be successful in school. Now her daughter Gabriela takes advanced placement courses at Permian High School while her daughter Jesika is scheduled to graduate from University of Texas of the Permian Basin with a business degree after only three years.

Lechuga credits St. Mary’s for her daughters’ approach to education, but she said she wished they had been able to attend the school through junior high and high school, and would have gladly paid for them to do so if it had been possible.

“I would have loved it. St. Mary’s was one of the best things I’ve ever done for my girls,” Lechuga said.

Parent Lori Heredia has two children attending St. Mary’s and once attended the school herself. She said she and her husband would welcome the chance to continue her children’s education through to a Catholic high school. She said she likes St. Mary’s because her children get a good education while also being exposed to their religion and its values.

“If they continued through junior high and high school I think it would be good for them … If I had that option I would definitely continue sending them,” Heredia said.

Notices have been printed in church bulletins asking for input from parishioners, and surveys have been sent out to parents with students enrolled at both St. Mary’s and St. Ann’s Catholic School in Midland.

Pfeifer said he just hopes they get a good response because he believes in the value of a Catholic education.

“Our focus is on the total person, not just the mind and we believe in the value of that,” Pfeifer said.