Posted on: Thursday, April 5, 2007
Plenty of educational elbow room
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
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St. Catherine School in Kapa'a, Kaua'i, was started 61 years ago by Roman Catholic nuns, but is now operated entirely by lay teachers. Tuition at the kindergarten-to-eighth-grade school is $3,500 a year. Roughly a third of the school's students receive some financial assistance.
Photos by JAN TENBRUGGENCATE | The Honolulu Advertiser
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AT A GLANCE
WHERE: 5021 Kawaihau Road, Kapa'a, Kaua'i PHONE: 822-4212 PRINCIPAL: Carol West SCHOOL COLORS: Maroon and gold HISTORY: Started in 1946 by Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary took over in 1964. Now, all administrators and teachers are lay people. ENROLLMENT: 140 COMPUTERS: There is at least one computer in every classroom, 12 or 13 computers in the computer lab, 7 or 8 in the language arts classroom. "We are very computer-literate," West said. WEB PAGE: www.st-catherineschool.org
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Sixty-one years ago, the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary opened a small school on the property of St. Catherine Church — on a bluff overlooking the ocean above Kapa'a.
Responsibility for the Roman Catholic school passed to the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Rosary in 1964, and about five years ago to an entirely lay staff. But the school remains a member of The Catholic Schools of Hawai'i.
Principal Carol West said the kindergarten to eighth-grade classes have plenty of space on their 11-acre campus. There's a big playground area and ample lawn space.
"Our classrooms are very large and spacious," she said. There is a new library and computer lab.
The preschool and kindergarten are in a separate facility on the campus.
If there's a problem for the school, it's keeping enrollment up in a time when there are several other private schools competing for students while home-schooling's popularity is on the rise, she said.
St. Catherine School had 160 students just a couple of years ago, but enrollment has dropped to 140. And the lower numbers have created something of a financial shortage for the school.
Tuition is $3,500. Roughly a third of the school's students receive some financial assistance.
What are you most proud of? "I'm very proud of our technological advances for our small school," Principal West said. "We are very high-tech for a small school."
Best-kept secret: "We are very family-oriented. We have many, many parents who are committed to volunteering. It's a nice, safe family environment."
Everybody at our school knows: Barbara Gore, school secretary.
Our biggest challenge: "Enrollment — to keep it up. That is a challenge."
What we need: "We need to do some maintenance, upkeep of the buildings — that and we really need to resurface our basketball court."
Projects: "We keep working on our adopt-a-student program to provide financial assistance for our students."
Special events: "Our school carnival is major. It is our major fundraiser, our only fundraiser. It tends to be an islandwide event." The year, the St. Catherine School Carnival is scheduled May 4-5.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.
