Press Release 2/27/08 -- Catholic High School Town Hall Meetings Scheduled

Four town hall meetings have been scheduled to discuss the recent Catholic high school feasibility commissioned by Catholic School For Me (CS4Me) - a group of parents in southern Madison County, Illinois

The dates, times, and locations of the public meetings are as follows:

Thursday, March 6 at 7 PM at St. Boniface Church in Edwardsville
Sunday, March 9 at 7 PM at St. John Neumann's gymnasium in Maryville
Tuesday, April 1 at 7 PM at St. Elizabeth Church in Granite City
Thursday, April 10 at 7 PM at St. Paul's Parish Center in Highland

The meetings will be conducted by the CS4Me Board and each meeting will have the same format including the major findings of the feasibility study, the vision for a new high school, overview of committees that are forming, next steps, and questions from the audience.

CS4Me president, Doug Villhard, said his group is hoping for a strong turnout.

"We continue to be blessed with the positive feedback we're hearing about the results of the study," Villhard said. "We're expecting an energized crowd at these town hall meetings. Even just the idea of the school is really bringing together Catholics in our part of the county. We're praying this format allows us to both get the word out as well as solicit feedback from the community."

The CS4Me group's next steps are to conduct the town hall meetings, grow membership for key committees, and complete a final proposal for the exact location, cost, and fundraising plan for the school to be presented to the Diocese of Springfield and major donors in the upcoming months.

The independent study was conducted by Partners in Stewardship for Life (based in St. Lucie, Florida) over the summer and fall of 2007. Over 80 community leaders, clergy, educators, elected officials, potential donors, parishioners, and parents were interviewed as part of the process. In addition over 1,000 families were surveyed regarding a new school.

The study suggests a school should be centrally located near Maryville, would cost between $12 and $15 million to build, and could serve 400-600 students primarily in the communities of Bethalto, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Glen Carbon, Granite City, Highland, Maryville, and Troy. Tuition of $6,000 per year comparable to area schools in the region was also suggested. Surveyed parents indicated the three features of a new school that most interest them are academics, location, and strong Catholic identity. According to the study, local economic demographics and Sunday collections suggest the cost to build through donations is attainable with a potential first enrollment as early as 2011 or 2012.

Information about joining a committee, making a donation, and downloading a summary of the feasibility study can be found on the group's website at http://www.CatholicSchoolForMe.com.

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For more information about CS4Me including joining the group or exploring a donation please visit its website at http://www.CatholicSchoolForMe.com or contact Doug Villhard at doug@secondstreetmedia.com or 618-531-6167.

Please refer to the map below to better understand the CS4ME area's proximity to current Catholic high schools east of St. Louis in Illinois: