Camden Diocese plans for new high school

The Camden Diocese is finalizing plans to build its first new Roman Catholic high school in 40 years in the fastest-growing county in South Jersey.

Citing changing demographics, church officials have entered into a nearly $5 million agreement to purchase a 100-acre farm in Mullica Hill, Gloucester County, as the site for a 1,200-student facility.

The diocese is moving forward with the high school, its first in the county, at the same time a shift in the region's Catholic population has led it to close nine elementary schools and make plans to merge 66 parishes.

The new school will be located on Route 77 across from the county 4-H Fairgrounds. It will replace Gloucester Catholic High School, a 78-year-old institution in Gloucester City, a Camden County dock town.

"It's an exciting time for the diocese," spokesman Andrew Walton said, adding that the roughly 200,000-square-foot high school would address the needs of Gloucester County residents, who account for 65 percent of the student body at Gloucester Catholic.

A formal announcement of the Mullica Hill project is expected this summer.

Paul VI, which opened in Haddon Township in 1965, was the last high school the diocese constructed.

The Gloucester County opening would be targeted for fall 2010, the same time the Archdiocese of Philadelphia plans to open the first of two new high schools.

In January, the archdiocese unveiled plans to construct two $65 million facilities, its most ambitious Catholic secondary school construction project in decades. The schools will be in fast-growing Hilltown, Bucks County, and Upper Providence, Montgomery County, and will replace three older schools. Groundbreaking in Upper Providence was scheduled for this week.

Archdiocese officials said enrollment at their 20 high schools had declined and they hoped the modern schools, located on large campuses, would help reverse that trend. They will replace Lansdale Catholic High School, St. Pius X High School in Pottstown, and Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School in Norristown.

The Camden Diocese, which covers New Jersey's six southernmost counties, also wants to focus on a rapidly developing area. The population of Gloucester County grew more than 12 percent between 2000 and 2007, according to the U.S. Census, and its rural areas are expected to explode in the next 10 to 15 years.

Mullica Hill is in Harrison Township, where a $22 million highway bypass is planned. The town is already home to Clearview Regional High School, which had more than 2,400 students enrolled last year.

"The trend toward building Catholic high schools and elementary schools had slowed. But as populations shift, there's a need to respond to the areas of growth," Walton said.

"To be competitive and attract students in a competitive marketplace, you have to set yourself apart in the programs you offer and also with an up-to-date facility."

There are 10 Catholic high schools in the diocese, including four in Camden County: Gloucester Catholic, Paul VI, Camden Catholic in Cherry Hill, and Bishop Eustace Prep, a private school in Pennsauken. Walton said the 10 schools' combined enrollment had increased to 6,500 students, from 6,000, over the last decade.

The Diocese of Trenton, which includes Burlington County, has no plans to build another high school. It now operates eight and has 7,000 students. The last was built in the late 1960s.

In the Camden Diocese, Bishop Joseph A. Galante this month closed nine elementary schools, citing declining enrollment. And in March, he said it would be necessary to merge nearly half of the diocese's 124 parishes to stretch church resources, address a priest shortage and create more dynamic parishes.

The plan to open a Gloucester County high school is another element of the reconfiguration.

Walton said a recent survey of parents found "significant support for a new high school." Parents also indicated they would support a capital project.

Walton declined to provide an estimated project cost, saying the plans were still preliminary. Tuition could be between $7,500 and $8,500, he said.

"There is a real need for a high-quality, first-rate Catholic high school in the area," said Walton, who said the new school would have state-of-the-art technology computer rooms, six science labs, a large auditorium and a media center.

He said he did not know what would become of the Gloucester Catholic building if the project is approved, except that it would not be a Catholic high school.

That school, which began as St. Mary's High, was built by parishioners in 1930 to serve a thriving Irish-Catholic population. It has no athletic fields, parking is limited, and it must use West Deptford High School's auditorium for its musicals.

"There's certainly a great attachment to Gloucester Catholic, but even among the families, there's a recognition that a new facility, with more fields and parking, would certainly be a benefit," Walton said.

Athletic director Tony Powers, who began his career at Gloucester Catholic in 1975, agreed.

"Gloucester Catholic is a wonderful, wonderful school, but our facilities aren't tremendous," Powers said. "We have a tremendous family here, but there's nothing like brand-new."

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