TONTITOWN — Students, faculty and community members came together Thursday to celebrate the opening of Northwest Arkansas’ only Catholic high school.
Ozark Catholic Academy opened with 16 freshmen and eight sophomores, according to John Rocha, the founding head of school. It leases space inside the Father Bandini Parish Education Center at St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Mark Breden, president of the school's board, welcomed a crowd gathered outside the school for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday. He called the school's opening the result of an endeavor that started more than four years ago.
Breden and Rocha spoke briefly before students and staff posed for a ribbon-cutting picture. Community members were invited inside for school tours and refreshments.
The school has seven full-time employees and five part-time employees, Rocha said.
Read tomorrow's Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on the school's opening.