First part of St. James' $11 million expansion project open to students

Despite a few glitches with the phone lines, a newly expanded St. James Catholic School welcomed students back to school on Tuesday.

"It was fabulous," said Principal Judy Pappas. "The only real problem was helping tearful kindergartners separate from their parents. But that's nothing new."

The completed first phase consisted of new classrooms for prekindergarten to second graders and sixth- through eighth-graders located on the west side of the 800 block of North Arlington Heights Road.

The second and third phases of the project will be completed this winter. Construction at the school will continue until then, Pappas said.

"The work has to continue," said Pappas during a telephone interview where drills blared in the background.

After all three phases are complete, St. James officials will consolidate all their elementary and junior high classrooms to the west side of Arlington Heights Road. Some church functions would still be held at buildings on the east side of the road. The two-story school addition on the west side would be about 19,000 square feet, making the total building about 97,400 square feet.

St. James will still use the Bowman Center for church services and meetings.

The entire project costs about $11 million.

For the first half of the school year, the third- through fifth-graders will attend classes in the elementary school on the east side of Arlington Heights Road. They are scheduled to move to new classrooms across the street after the Christmas break.

There are 537 students enrolled at St. James Catholic School. The new building would house up to 800 students.