Construction is underway on a Catholic school in Henderson , Nev.— the first new elementary/middle school campus in 19 years for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic School, which will initially accommodate about 260 students in preschool through eighth grades, is slated to open Aug. 17. It’s being built on the 22-acre campus of St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church.
Diocesan officials say the new school will help meet a demand for Catholic education. St. Francis of Assisi has about 8,500 registered families, but doesn’t have an on-site or nearby Catholic school.
“This was an area of Henderson that was terribly underserved,” says Cathy Thompson, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Las Vegas.
The diocese’s closest Catholic elementary/middle school — St. Viator Catholic School on South Eastern Avenue in Las Vegas — is 13 miles from the Henderson church.
Church officials declined to disclose how much it will cost to build the school, but parishioners made long-term financial commitments in order to pay for the school, school principal Danielle Miller says.
The new school began accepting applications last year. So far, 228 students have registered, Miller says.
The school will initially have one class per grade level, but the building will be large enough to eventually accommodate two.
The campus will include a 1.8-acre athletic field, an outdoor play area, a separate preschool and kindergarten recess area, a full-size gymnasium with a stage, and secure central courtyards.
The school will also have a STREAM — science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and math — incubator lab. It will include features such as a broadcasting green room, a sound booth and spaces for 3D printing and woodworking.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas has six elementary/middle schools — St. Anthony of Padua will be the seventh — and two high schools. About 3,900 students are enrolled.
Five of the elementary schools are in Las Vegas and one is in North Las Vegas.
“The need for Catholic education is growing, not dwindling,” says Miller.
The last opening of a new diocese elementary/middle school — St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School in Summerlin — was 19 years ago.
