Kids, teachers and parents say the schools, which have fewer facilities, small faculties, and fewer special services than public schools, are a peaceful and predictable haven. They are an extension of their homes, parents say, where only God is more important than disciplined learning. During the 1990s, about 100,000 registered Catholics moved into the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, most to the Valley, and some parents began to push their pastors and Bishop Thomas O'Brien for more schools. We don't have deep pockets. This year it was forced to turn away 240 students.
More growth is headed for suburbia, diocese officials report.
A new Catholic elementary school is heading for Ahwatukee next fall, and a Scottsdale high school will open in 2002. About five existing elementary schools added classrooms over the past few years. An additional four elementary schools and a high school are planned before 2010. Sites for those schools are still unconfirmed. It wants to open Arizona's first Catholic University, which would eventually enroll 5,000 students.