Handprints on the walls from the graduating classes of St. Teresa.
Photo by Jessica Garcia.
Multiple generations of students have attended St. Teresa of Avila Catholic School, which is raising funds for a new facility adjacent to its church property. The effort is not lost on current students.
“This is the school that my mom and all her siblings went to as kids, and my jujitsu coach and a lot of family, but I do think that a new school will be better for multiple reasons,” eighth grader Matthew Johnson said. “It'll be off the highway, we'll have more accessibility for wider range and we'll have better opportunities for sports as they stated.”
St. Teresa, one of four Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Reno, was established in 1957 and is one of the few parishes to have its school separate from its church.
Committee members announced a $25 million capital campaign to build a new facility on a lot close to the church. The new building will provide students the opportunity to participate in weekly mass and activities, according to proponents.
Jim Cavilia of Allison MacKenzie, who is involved with the finance committee raising funds for the project, said the existing school continues to operate but has begun to show its age.
“It needs significant and expensive attention to go on,” Cavilia said. “Our choices were, we build a new school or build a new building to keep it going.”
St. Teresa is the only Catholic school south of Reno and serves approximately 280 students with 30 staff members.
Principal Peggy Burger, who has been on staff with the school for about 13 years, said leaving the older building would be very “bittersweet.” But with its age comes deterioration of equipment and structural components. She said at night, it often feels “haunted.”
“It’s just one of those old-fashioned buildings that has memories down the hallway,” she said. “It’s literally so many things going wrong. We had the original boilers, and we were looking at things to replace those for heat. The cement block walls were disintegrating.”
The new location would bring the school within walking distance to the church property, St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Community, at 3000 N. Lompa Lane. St. Teresa’s current church was built more than 20 years ago after moving from its original home at 449 W. King St., and the parish acquired the adjacent property with the intent of establishing a school there. Cavilia called it a forward-thinking move that reduces any legal entanglements.
The goal is to unite with the church, start fresh and expand programs.
Vincent Roth, who is in the eighth grade and has been at St. Teresa for six years, said he enjoys its academics but hopes a bigger facility will include greater access to sports.
“The school is pretty good as it is, but with the bigger school, I feel like there would be a lot more things we can do, and we wouldn't have to travel to a certain area to practice for our athletics,” Roth said.
The campaign went public this month during all of St. Teresa’s masses.
“From a faith standpoint, and a big part of the school is the faith component, it is certainly easier or better to promote that faith component and that Catholic identity when you’re adjacent to a church with the clergy there and have access to the church and the sacraments and things that go along with that,” Cavilia said.
Jan Sullivan, co-chair of the campaign, launched its preschool program in 2009 for which it will have its own wing in the new building. About 60 children will be accommodated in the new facility. Sullivan said the current preschool facility once served as a convent for the nuns of the Daughters of Charity that sponsored St. Teresa.
“Our bishop is our honorary chairman, and he has spoken to all the masses,” Sullivan said. “So now we’ve trained all our volunteers who have made personal contacts with the people that we’ve asked for pledges. But the response has been excellent. We’ve had people from all over the community who aren’t necessarily Catholic, but they are saying, ‘We’d like to help, too.’”
“We have about half the money pledged or committed,” Cavilia said. “We had a couple of very large lead donors who wish to remain anonymous. That gave us a very large start.”
Burger said there are naming opportunities to entice involvement and donations.
Carson City Mayor Lori Bagwell was enthusiastic for the project in part due to her own experiences at the school.
“The fundraising efforts to build a new school for St. Teresa are a testament to the strength of this community,” Bagwell said. “As someone who attended St. Teresa as a young girl, it’s heartwarming to see the same spirit of generosity and support that shaped my own education continue to inspire those who are ensuring future generations will have the same opportunity to grow in faith and knowledge.”
For information, go to stts.org.