ROGERS — With a “build it and they will come” mentality, sisters Ashley Menendez and Adriana Stacey have teamed together to make the idea of a Catholic high school in northwest Arkansas less of a dream and more of a reality.
For almost two decades the vision of building a Catholic high school to serve the ever-growing northwest corner of the state has been on and off the table in the diocese. Various challenges, such as the changing of a bishop, land acquisition and financial resources, have posed hurdles to the project in years past, but a swelling population and other thriving school options have once again brought this idea to the table with Menendez and Stacey spearheading the latest effort.
Parishioners of St. Joseph Parish in Fayetteville, they have worked tirelessly since last July when they first met with Bishop Anthony B. Taylor to discuss the possibility of reopening the case for a private Catholic high school in the area. The bishop gave his blessing and diocesan approval to begin the first phase with the understanding that the school would operate independently, with no financial assistance from the diocese. The two set about polling parishioners of the area’s four largest parishes in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville of their desires for a Catholic high school.
“We had 527 parishioners respond to the questionnaire,” Stacey said. “Only three of those respondents were negative. There was an overwhelmingly positive response on the survey to the idea of a Catholic high school.”
The committee held its first meeting in October and it continues to meet monthly.
According to the group’s Go Fund Me campaign, it needs $30 million for the project. The campaign’s immediate goal was $100,000 but as of May 22 had only raised $2,875 in three months.
The sisters hope to open a high school in August 2017.
In the few months since October, Menendez, an attorney, and Stacey, a psychiatrist specializing in women’s health, have established an executive board, set up a website, spoken with priests about the school, gained non-profit status for the school and generally gained ground, except for that very thing, the ground.
“We need land for the school,” said Menendez, adding the committee recently made an offer on diocesan property located in Lowell, just off of Interstate 49 between Springdale and Rogers.
The consensus is the school would be well served in a central area to all four cities, as well as surrounding cities such as Fort Smith, Eureka Springs and Bella Vista. Although the committee has hopes for the diocesan land, it continues to explore other viable options.
Vernell Bowen, superintendent of Catholic schools, said the Diocese of Little Rock studied building a Catholic high school in the region in the 1990s, 2003 and again in 2007. The diocese bought 100 acres in 2003 for a possible high school, but the 2003 study showed the enrollment would be too low to keep the tuition affordable.
“I am supportive of Catholic education and so is the bishop,” she said. “We have been offering support when they are looking for help with the planning. Everything they have asked for, I have tried to help them. I am willing to work with them in any process or any way they need my help.”
Bowen said her main concern if a Catholic high school is opened is maintaining the Catholic identity. The school would be required to use religion textbooks approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops but could set its own policies in all other areas.
“I would make sure they are Catholic if they are calling themselves Catholic,” Bowen said.
The sisters grew up in an Episcopalian home in El Dorado as two of six children. Stacey attended Holy Redeemer School for fifth and sixth-grades. The influence of close family friends who were devout Catholics made lasting impressions on the two sisters. The women converted to Catholicism as adults.
Menendez has three children and Stacey has four children and between the two they have five attending St. Joseph for elementary school.
Menendez lived and practiced law in New York City for five years before moving to Dallas and then St. Louis. It was in St. Louis where her daughter attended Visitation Academy, a Catholic school. Under the guidance of the Sisters of the Visitation, Menendez felt the school permeated its curriculum with living the Catholic faith.
“I saw how the charism of the order was reflected in the school,” Menendez said. “You don’t realize what you are missing in Catholic education, until you are in it,” she added, “then you realize its true value.”
Stacey did her residency and practiced in Madison, Wis., before moving to Fayetteville. “We were always hearing about the Catholic high school,” she said.
Jim Tull, board member and St. Vincent de Paul parishioner and school board member, said the value of a Catholic high school extends to the community at large as well.
“A Catholic high school is very important to the business community,” he said. “Recruiting and retaining top talent from all over the U.S. is a goal of most organizations in northwest Arkansas. There are many areas of the country where a kindergarten-12th grade Catholic education dates back generations and for some prospective employees, the absence of a Catholic high school can literally be a deal killer for moving here. It is a barrier we must break down.”
Father Shaun Wesley, pastor of St. Joseph Church and School, agrees.
“I am a product of a K-12 Catholic education,” said Father Wesley, who attended Sacred Heart School in Morrilton, “and I know the many gifts that this solid foundation in both faith and academics has brought to my own life. I certainly wish that the young people of northwest Arkansas could have the chance to receive these same blessings in the near future.”
More information is available at nwachs.com and facebook.com/NWACatholicHS.
