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Commissioners approve name change for bridge

<b>First Posted:</b> 4/2/2007<br><br>By Mark Guydish mguydish@www.timesleader.comEducation Reporter 
NANTICOKE &amp;ndash; The new private Christian school in Nanticoke will probably share its building with a cigar maker, but the building owner promises that won&amp;rsquo;t interfere with the school. Children will take daily religion classes, but Catholic students will have to attend church-sponsored Catechism classes to prepare for holy sacraments. And there is still a chance the building won&amp;rsquo;t be ready by September.

None of which deterred 15 or more people, including Ray and Sharon Kinney, from enrolling their children Sunday afternoon. The Hunlock Creek couple headed straight for the registration table after a roughly one-hour public meeting in the Nanticoke Municipal Building, where Holy Spirit Academy organizers outlined their plans and answered questions.
&amp;ldquo;I visited the other schools,&amp;rdquo; Sharon Kinney said, recounting her impressions from open houses held at St. Aloysius in Wilkes-Barre and what will be Good Shepherd Academy in the current Bishop O&amp;rsquo;Reilly High School building in Kingston. &amp;ldquo;They were too big and too far away for my daughter. We like the smallness of Pope John Paul II.&amp;rdquo;
That school, run by the Diocese of Scranton, will close for good in June, and a group of parents backed by some local politicians, businesses and community leaders hatched the idea of Holy Spirit to take its place. Even though many plans are still soft, their pitch Sunday seemed to convince some attendees.
&amp;ldquo;We know a lot of people involved in it through Pope John Paul,&amp;rdquo; Ray Kinney said, noting that he and his wife have not registered their daughter, heading for fourth grade next year, in any other school. &amp;ldquo;We have a lot of faith in them.&amp;rdquo;
Lori Antolik, with a daughter about to enter kindergarten, and Brian Waugh, with two graduates from John Paul and two still attending, did the presentation and fielded questions with some help from organizer Jean Ditzler. Waugh opened with an emphatic denial that the new school is in any way meant as criticism of the diocese. &amp;ldquo;We are very grateful for what they have done for our children,&amp;rdquo; he said.
Antolik stressed that one big reason the school is being created is the dedication of parents at John Paul. &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s like a family in itself,&amp;rdquo; she said, &amp;ldquo;that&amp;rsquo;s how we want Holy Spirit Academy to be.&amp;rdquo;
Their key points included:
&amp;bull; The school will share an old shoe factory that currently houses a cigar maker, but the owner has promised the business will arrange its schedule to avoid any conflict with the students arriving or departing, or with other activities. The building owner is trying to find a new location for the cigar maker.
&amp;bull; There will be pre-kindergarten (ages 3 and up) three days a week at a cost of about $1,295 a year, and full-day kindergarten through eighth grade at $1,895 a year plus a mandatory fundraising amount that hasn&amp;rsquo;t been finalized. Plans drawn up by Borton-Lawson architects call for one room for each grade, two rooms for special classes, a library and a gym/cafeteria, but Antolik said the hope is that success will allow the school to expand to grade nine and higher.
&amp;bull; There will be intramural basketball for kindergarten through grade two and interscholastic for higher grades. A &amp;ldquo;Home and School Association&amp;rdquo; for parents and students will be formed, with plans to have students take part in running meetings so they can learn public speaking and management skills, Antolik said.
&amp;bull; Several teachers and a principal have already signed on to work at the school, and Antolik said that &amp;ldquo;there is no shortage of applicants.&amp;rdquo; Waugh conceded that details of how they would be paid aren&amp;rsquo;t worked out, but said the school is pursuing grants and has garnered support from area businesses, some of which already have their names on T-shirts that were sold at the meeting. 
&amp;bull; Uniforms will be mandatory, with boys in navy-blue pants and maroon polo shirts with the school emblem in gold. Girls will wear similar colored &amp;ldquo;jumpers,&amp;rdquo; Antolik said. 
&amp;bull; Bus transportation must, by law, be provided by the school district a student lives in as long as Holy Spirit is within 10 miles of that district&amp;rsquo;s boundaries. Greater Nanticoke Area will also make a school nurse available as needed. 
&amp;bull; The school will have locked doors and require escorts for anyone buzzed in. All students will be given identification numbers and anyone who comes to see or pick up a student must know that number, Antolik said. 
&amp;bull; Conceding there isn&amp;rsquo;t much time to get the building ready, Waugh and Antolik asked for volunteers. They also said that a contingency plan is in place to teach students if the building isn&amp;rsquo;t ready, but didn&amp;rsquo;t detail those plans. Waugh said he is pretty confident the building will be ready.
While a preliminary curriculum is worked out, details remain unset. One of the trickiest is religion classes, Antolik and Waugh said. Because the school has not sought and did not get approval from Bishop Joseph Martino, it cannot bill itself as a Catholic school, and it wants to keep appeal broad enough to attract other Christian denominations. As a result, Catholic students planning to receive Sacraments such as First Holy Communion and Confirmation will still have to attend weekend catechism classes at their local church.
Most of the 60 or so people who attended seemed receptive. The school got &amp;ldquo;15 to 20&amp;rdquo; registrations by the end of the meeting, said Donna Redenski, one of the school supporters.
Rebecca Piestrak said she has two children in Pope John Paul II and will consider the new school for next year.
&amp;ldquo;I think it&amp;rsquo;s a viable option,&amp;rdquo; she said.
For more info:

 www.holyspiritacademy.org

or 
Holy Spirit Academy, 
P.O. Box 444 
Nanticoke, PA 18634 
Phone 735-0296


    

Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7161.

Getting into the new school spirit