New High Schools to Be Built Beyond the Beltway

ByMary McCarthy
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 1/9/03)

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde has designated that one-third of the capital campaign’s $75 million goal will be used to build two new high schools. This $25 million will be split equally between the two schools, which estimates say will cost $30 million each to build. The rest of the funds needed to build the schools will be financed through tax-exempt bonds.

One school will be built in the Cherry Hill Peninsula area of Prince William County. There have been setbacks in the planning stages of the school due to reductions in the state transportation budget. A main road that would connect to the school was to be postponed, but KSI, Inc., the owner of land in the area, was willing to make accommodations for roads to be built.

Dr. Timothy McNiff, diocesan superintendent of schools, said that financing should be completed by spring, and that an architect should be commissioned for construction by June. Groundbreaking is currently scheduled for October 2004. Completion of the Prince William school is tentatively scheduled for 2006.

The Loudoun County school is expected to be completed shortly thereafter. Feasibility studies have begun at the site on Braddock Road near the intersection with Gum Springs Road.

The schools project began in 1997 with the acquisition of land in Prince William County. The sites for the two new schools were chosen based on demographics and proximity to major arteries. With the exception of Notre Dame Academy, all of the other current Catholic high schools are, as McNiff said, "beltway related." The sites for the new schools were chosen with this in mind. These schools will extend the opportunity for a Catholic high school education to students who do not live in the Washington metro area.

Currently, it is planned that each school will accommodate about 1,200 students.

At the Prince William school, McNiff hopes that the curriculum will include a science and technology component that would emphasize the biotechnology field. "This is the industry that will influence these kids’ lifestyles and standards of living," said McNiff. He hopes that this school will be able to compete with Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School and its reputation for science. However, McNiff does not simply want to give students an advantage in the scientific field. He wants the students to learn the science of biotechnology (i.e. cloning and cell embryo research), while also being able to articulate the Church’s position on these controversial matters.

McNiff wants the schools to have a Catholic identity, not only in curriculum, but also in appearance. The current plans for the Prince William school include a chapel that would be visible from the road. The chapel’s tower will be seen through the skylights on the main hall of the school.

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