New St. Charles Catholic school nears completion
It's been 10 years of dreaming, seven years of planning and six years of fundraising but St. Patrick parishioners in St. Charles are just a couple months away from a new school.
Members of the school's Education Commission and Home & School Board toured the progress of the new, $12 million building Wednesday. Several members of the tour compared the new school building on Crane Road with the parish's existing school in downtown St. Charles as moving from “Little House on the Prairie” to “The Jetsons.”
The old school building will remain as the parish's new preschool. It will also house before- and after-school care. All other students, in kindergarten through eighth grade, will enjoy a new building at the start of the school year. The new building has 37 classrooms, each about 30-feet by 30-feet, allowing for three rooms per grade level. All classes will have flat screen televisions for morning announcements and PowerPoint presentations by teachers. Kindergarten through fourth grade will be located on the first floor. Fifth grade through eighth grade will be on the second floor.
The 85,000-square-foot building will allow the current student population of 540 to grow to as large as 800 students. The new building has several amenities the current school lacks. For instance, each student will have his or her own locker for the first time. There is also an art room complete with a kiln, a science room, a library with adjacent computer room, a band room and a gymnasium capable of hosting up to 900 people. The gymnasium includes a giant projection screen for school assemblies. A new, lighted stage separates the gymnasium from the cafeteria. The cafeteria will have a full kitchen capable of serving hot meals ... and three 50-inch televisions.
Best of all, the new building comes with no tuition increase for families other than the typical increase to allow for cost of living raises for staff. Annual tuition for one child at the school is currently $2,908 per year not including weekly contributions of at least $10 at Sunday Mass.
“The theme of the school project for perhaps the last decade has been building to do God's work,” Education Commission President Chris Smoczynski said. “That's exactly what this project has been. It's going to really serve the community. It's very exciting.”