Ground blessed for new high school
By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
UPPER PROVIDENCE TOWNSHIP —Pope John Paul II High School is the name of the $65 million archdiocesan high school slated to open in Montgomery County in September 2010. Cardinal Justin Rigali, who was in Rome, made the announcement via video Thursday, May 29 during a ground blessing ceremony for the 92-acre property at the intersection of Rittenhouse and Township Line Roads.
Approximately 750 students, archdiocesan, civic and community officials who attended the blessing cheered when the name was announced.
“May the heavenly Father guide those who pass through its halls, just as He watched over John Paul, inspiring this young man from Poland to live a life of extraordinary grace, gratitude, truth and compassion,” Cardinal Rigali said.
“Where you stand now will soon be a place of learning, sharing and growing in Christ’s many blessings,” the Cardinal continued in his video message. “May today, dear friends, be the first of countless occasions for prayer, laughter, celebration and community on the grounds of Pope John Paul II High School.”
The Cardinal has appointed Father Alan J. Okon to be the new school’s first president, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph P. McFadden told the crowd at the ground blessing.
Father Okon, who will oversee the development of the new school, has been president of Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School in Norristown since last year. Until the new school opens, he will serve as president for both Kennedy-Kenrick and St. Pius X High School in Pottstown, replacing Father Joseph F. Rymdeika there. Father Rymdeika has been named pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Horsham.
Students now at St. Pius X High School and Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic will relocate to the new school when it opens.
Bishop McFadden, who assists the Cardinal in overseeing the Secretariat for Catholic Education, blessed the ground of the future school.
“Let us pray for His help through this celebration, that God will bring this construction to successful completion and that His protection will keep those who work on it safe from injury,” Bishop McFadden said.
Among those present were ninth-graders who will be in the first graduating class of Pope John Paul II High School as well as sixth-graders from 11 of the Catholic elementary schools that will send their students to the school.
“We gather on this property today as separate school communities. In September of 2010, we will gather again on this very property not as separate communities, but as one new school community,” Father Okon said.
Just as the founders and leaders of Kennedy-Kenrick and St. Pius X did, “We seek to provide an outstanding Catholic school education so that our current students and students for many generations to come will know that they are unconditionally loved by God … and that they will know the various academic disciplines … so that they may be prepared physically, mentally, relationally and spiritually to live lives in the 21st century,” he said.
“The vision of our new Catholic high school is the result of many people who are willing to invest in the future of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,” Father Okon added.
Pending final government approvals, construction on the school is scheduled to begin in June. At 209,000 square feet, Pope John Paul II High will have a capacity for 1,200 students with the potential for more.
The new school will feature more than 30 wireless classrooms, five science laboratories, three computer laboratories and a library-media resource center. In addition, there will be a television studio, a fine arts center with two art studios and choral-band rooms, central air-conditioning, modern security access and surveillance systems, a 90-seat chapel, 432-seat cafeteria, 1,200-seat auditorium, 1,000-seat main gymnasium, an auxiliary gymnasium and a fitness center.
There are also plans for six competition-level sports fields, a running track with an all-weather surface and six competition-level tennis courts.
“It’s cool,” said Kevin Lennox, a sixth-grader at St. Aloysius School, Pottstown, who will be a member of the new school’s first freshman class. “It was really fun just to see the land.”
When he learned he and his peers were allowed to play while they were there, he was even happier. For an hour-and-a-half before the ceremony, children from the various schools played tug-of-war, kick ball, football and other games on the sprawling grounds. To Kevin’s cheers, St. Aloysius School won a Smart Board, an LCD projector and a laptop computer at the raffle that concluded the ceremony.
Kevin said he’s happy about attending a Catholic high school because, just as his grade school, it will help him “get closer to Jesus.”
Beth McCabe, a sixth-grader at Sacred Heart School in Royersford, said she was excited when the new school’s name was finally revealed: “I thought it was great, because it was [named] after a really good pope.”
One of the highlights for Olivia Torres, a sixth-grader from St. Eleanor School in Collegeville, was “to see the people that will be our classmates in the future.”
Jeff Evans, a freshman from St. Pius X, echoed that. A member of St. Thomas More Parish in South Coventry, Evans is also elated by the prospect of playing baseball and basketball on the state-of-art campus.
“Today was fun,” added Jenna Bergen, a freshman from Kennedy-Kenrick who belongs to Visitation B.V.M. Parish in Trooper. “I love art. I’m so excited for updated art [studios].”
Richard McCarron, the archdiocesan Secretary for Catholic Education and Superintendent of Schools, was also pleased. “This is truly an historic day for this Archdiocese of Philadelphia.”
For more information, visit the school’s Web site, www.PJPHS.org.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine may be reached at (215) 587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.