TONTITOWN -- The first year of the Ozark Catholic Academy pleased its officials, who said they look forward to enrollment growth in year two.
Northwest Arkansas' only Catholic high school opened in August in the Father Bandini Education Center at St. Joseph Catholic Church with 24 freshmen and sophomores.
Independent school
Ozark Catholic Academy is an independent Catholic high school, meaning it has no specific connection to a parish and doesn’t receive financial support from the Diocese of Little Rock or any parish.
Source: Ozark Catholic Academy
The school year ended Friday with 25 students, all of whom are expected back in the fall, said John Rocha, founding head of school.
Rocha said his goal is to begin next school year with at least 45 students. He had 41 signed up as of Friday.
The school has seven full-time and part-time teachers. Two more teachers, including one with a doctorate in chemistry, and a coach will join the staff this fall. While most of the teachers are young, the two new teachers both have taught for more than 20 years.
"We have a lot of young teachers. They're vibrant, they're great," Rocha said. "This year, my focus has been trying to get more experienced teachers to support those younger teachers as we grow."
Students in the past year have had opportunities to bond inside and outside the classroom.
They traveled to Auxier, Ky., on a mission trip to serve the rural poor in August. They also went to Washington for the March for Life in January.
They put on a production of the Shakespearean classic, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Students, some of whom had no acting experience, began working on the play in January and performed it twice for the community during the last weekend of April. A total of 197 people attended, Rocha said.
Mary Doke, a freshman from Bentonville, said every student had an acting role.
"We had to work together to get the sets ready and everything like that as well," said Mary, who is 14. "So we were the stage crew and the actors. It was very much a community effort to put the play on."
Mary said she'd done some plays in elementary school, but this was different because it was Shakespeare.
"But it was a learning experience, just like anything else," she said.
Additional learning experiences came through athletics. Ozark Catholic, led by coach Cody Vaught, had students competing against other schools in basketball, cross country, track and golf. The girls basketball team, despite having only six players, managed to win five of its 19 games. The boys team won 14 of its 19 games.
The plan is to add volleyball and maybe softball in year two, depending on student interest. The school has applied for admission to the Arkansas Activities Association and is on the board's agenda for membership consideration at next month's meeting, Rocha said. They played as an independent team this year.
Three students left after the beginning of the school year. One wanted to return to public school to spend more time with his friends. Two others, a pair of siblings, returned to being home-schooled, Rocha said. But a few students have joined the school during the year as well.
Gianni Squillace, a freshman from Rogers, said Ozark Catholic teachers do their best to engage the students through interesting activities and discussions.
"In anything we do -- sports, academics -- faith always is tied into it," Gianni said. "It's not like they force it upon us. It just happens because we share similar beliefs. So I really appreciate that about OCA."
Jim Gorman, president of the school's board, said he's been pleasantly surprised at how Ozark Catholic has developed its own sense of community, something that stood out during the performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
"The people in the audience were the family members, the teachers, the close friends and everyone was there not just enjoying the production, but enjoying the community they helped develop," Gorman said.
Northwest Arkansas lacked a Catholic high school until last year despite having two Catholic schools for lower grades -- St. Vincent de Paul School in Rogers and St. Joseph School in Fayetteville.
The idea was long discussed. Gorman, a Fayetteville resident, said he attended meetings about establishing a Catholic high school as far back as 20 years ago. A local group finally raised money and hired Rocha in 2016 to lead the effort.
"It's been a long time coming, and it's nice to see it growing," Gorman said. "I feel as the school continues from year to year, more families will choose to become a part of it."
Ozark Catholic eventually will run out of room it leases at the church if the growth continues. Maximum student capacity in the area of the building the school is renting is 200. Gorman said he's not sure what they'll do for a facility in the long term.
Mark Breden, a board member and former board president, said the school has exceeded his expectations for the first year. The fact every student re-enrolled for next year means it's been a successful year, he said.
One of the school's biggest challenges is maintaining a diverse student body. The board wants underprivileged students to be able to attend with the help of financial aid, Breden said.
Tuition next school year will be $9,750.
"We'll have to find support from the business community and interested individuals that are willing to help us with the financial aid these students will require for us to maintain our goal to be an inclusive school," Breden said.
Rocha acknowledged fundraising is a challenge. The board is leading the charge on that, he said.
"It's letting the outside community know that we need the financial help and we need to grow financially. That's where we need to continue to push," Rocha said.
Ozark Catholic next month will begin pursuing accreditation through the Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association, which has 98 member schools, according to its website.
The association requires a school be open for a year before applying for initial accreditation. The accreditation process takes two years, Rocha said.
NW News on 05/27/2019