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Pope Francis will merge at temporary home

Date: 10/15/2015

CHICOPEE – The merging of Holyoke Catholic High School (HCHS) and Cathedral High School into the HCHS building earlier than planned may have caused concern about the future of a new Catholic high school to be built on Surrey Road in Springfield, but Paul Gagliarducci, director of the rebuilding effort, insisted the merger doesn’t mean the new Pope Francis High School project will be affected.

“It’s a reality as far as I’m concerned,” Gagliarducci said at the press conference on Oct. 13 formally announcing the two schools will merge for the fall of 2016 under the name of Pope Francis High School at the campus of the current HCHS.

He said Bishop Mitchell Rozanski has not “wavered” on his commitment to the construction of the new high school.

“I just don’t see how that’s going to change,” he added.

Jim Tourtelotte, the chair of the Bishop’s Transitional Advisory Committee, told Reminder Publications there are committees at work at this time searching for a head of school for the new high school and its financial structure.

He said the bishop’s commitment was a “brave step forward” and characterized the new high school as being very different in its educational approach and how it is governed.

Enrollment at the present Cathedral High School spurred the early merger, according to a report Gagliarducci sent to Bishop Mitchell Rozanski on Oct. 2. In the report, Gagliarducci wrote, “Unfortunately, as enrollment numbers developed in the spring of 2015 and then throughout the summer, Cathedral High School’s projections fell far below anticipated levels. As a result, concerns arose that we might not be able to offer the student body an adequately strong academic program due to economic constraints. In short, the loss of revenue from tuitions led to the fiscal instability of the school. We made you aware of this situation and you instructed us to determine whether or not we could combine the schools into one of the two locations thereby bringing the student body together sooner rather than later. This would strengthen both our academic and economic bases. You requested that a report be submitted to you preferably by the end of September, but no later than Columbus Day weekend in October. You believed, as we did, that parents, staff, and students were anxious to know because a decision to merge sooner would have impact on their decisions about their personal plans for our school.”

Rozanski wrote parents in a letter dated Oct. 8, “Our initial plan was to open in the fall of 2016 under the new name of Pope Francis High School by utilizing both campuses. This was initially decided so as to limit the number of transitions our students would have to make over the next three years.”

The bishop added the city of Springfield would still provide busing for Springfield students to the HCHS campus.

Gagliarducci said the goal for the 2016 school year would be a freshman class at the transitional Pope Francis High School of 85 students for a combined student body of 375. He said for the school year starting the fall of 2017 officials hope the incoming class would be 100 students and for the school year beginning 2018 when the new Pope Francis High School is planned to be open in Springfield they expect a freshman class between 100 and 125.

He noted this would be the first time there is a cap on a freshmen class.

Gagliarducci said the early merger would create some savings for the diocese, but could not say at this time how the merger would affect tuition at the transitional school for the next two school years. Currently the Cathedral students pay $9,300 annual while HCHS students pay $8,700.

The merger would also result in a “stronger and more diverse curriculum,” Gagliarducci said.

This winter, he added, the combined sports teams of the two high schools would begin wearing the uniforms of the Pope Francis High School.

Gagliarducci acknowledged there are people “with concerns on both sides.” He said there are HCHS parents worried about getting their students to the new Pope Francis High School in Springfield and there are Cathedral students concerned about the change of the Cathedral name for the new school.

Kevin White, who is the director of development for the combined school, said marketing would begin at the Catholic elementary and middle schools this week for the combined high school.  

He acknowledged enrollment in Catholic schools has been declining for years and parents have the choices of charter schools and improved public schools. What those institutions don’t offer is a “gospel-centered education.”

He said there would be some advertising in local media, but the diocese will also have “shadow days” with students coming to HCHS to see the facility and to experience the educational culture themselves.

“They just want a great high school,” he said of the students.