By SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE
Staff Writer

This is the third in a series of articles comparing Fayette County's public and church schools.

What differences would a parent notice if she opted to pull her child out of public school and put him into one of the church schools now open in Fayette County?

For that matter, what differences would the student note?

In this series, Sallie Satterthwaite goes inside some of Fayette's public and private schools to provide an indepth look at what's different, and what's the same.

At Our Lady of Victory Catholic School on Kirkley Road north of Tyrone, art and symbolism are constant reminders that this is a Roman Catholic elementary school — the first, in fact, in Fayette County.

The most conspicuous differences a parent of a public school student will note here are the crucifix and a statue of the Virgin Mary, which greet visitors as clear emblems of the school's spiritual orientation. There is also religious symbolism in every classroom, where each day begins with prayer.

Our Lady of Victory draws from 12 different parishes in Fulton, Coweta,and Fayette counties, and has 200 students in kindergarten through eighth grade this year. Administrators say the school can accommodate 250 and is already receiving calls for next year's admissions. While non-Catholic students are accepted, Catholic families get priority for admission.

In a recent telephone interview, Sallie McQuaid, Our Lady of Victory's new principal, said she believes the big difference is “faith formation,” the goal of every activity at the school.

“Faith formation is integrated with all subjects, all day,” she said. “A Catholic education has always had a reputation for academic excellence. We think of this as a preparatory school for high school and college. We try to teach service to school, to parents, to one another, and to the community.”

Religion classes are taught each day at every grade level and worship services take place weekly, with the older students responsible for preparing them within their classes. In addition, priests from the parishes served by the school “come in on a rotating basis to assist us in our services,” McQuaid said, “and hold whole school eucharistic liturgies once a month.”

Our Lady of Victory is not for every student, said McQuaid, who from 1988 to 1994 was principal at St. John the Evangelist Elementary School in Hapeville — for many years the only Catholic school on the south side.

“I wish we could serve all students,” McQuaid continued, “but we don't have the wherewithal for exceptional students. We evaluate [applicants] and make recommendations for public school programs. A public school serves all by virtue of it being public; Catholic schools serve those who want their children to have a Catholic education.”

While multi-cultural in composition, the school's population is majority Anglo-Saxon, with some African-American students and a small number of Asian and multi-racial children.

The school opened just after Labor Day, with as many as 28 students in a room, the principal said. Each class has one teacher; some have teaching assistants. Not all the teachers are Catholic, although all who teach religion are.

Our Lady of Victory has a computer lab, a media center, and a music program, as well as physical education and a full gymnasium. Just now clinics in athletics are being offered because playing fields were not yet ready when school started, and administrators expect to be better poised for athletics in the spring.

A Catholic education is not cheap. Annual tuition is expected to go up next year from the current $3,950 per child. There will be a book fee, and parents have to buy uniforms — “Catholic plaid” jumpers and skirts for the girls, khaki for the boys. Middle-school boys wear ties.

There is a commonly held perception that Our Lady of Victory doesn't have to pay its own way because it had the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta to front the cost of the facility and its equipment.

This is not the case, said McQuaid: “It's a tough job. The archdiocese is not covering it. Our giving dollar is being divided up into a million pieces. The reality is that the archdiocese cannot afford to subsidize all the schools.

“I think Catholic schools are moving in the direction of independence. Our Lady of Victory is very, very dependent on the archdiocese. Tuition does not cover the expenses and [the archdiocese] cannot continue to do so. Their expectations of us, as time goes along, will be to look at other avenues, developing our constituency and spreading the goods news of what we are about.

“Here at Our Lady of Victory,” the principal continued, “we have a development director. The public sector is doing the same thing.” She noted that public schools, for example, are finding corporate sponsors for schools, selling magazine subscriptions, cards and paper at Christmas. These are all possible avenues for the parochial school, McQuaid said: “We're looking at fund-raisers to provide for the school.”

McQuaid said that since 1994, she was “a very happy homemaker,” but when the archdiocese tapped her for this position, was “glad I was able to step in. I love Catholic eduction dearly.”

She and her military husband, Ronald, sent their children to Catholic schools whenever possible, but were disappointed not to be able to get their son into a Catholic school when they first moved to Fayetteville.

Her St. Pius graduate is now 24. She also has children 33 and 38, and is the grandmother of five.

Our Lady of Victory will have an open house Jan. 30 from 2 to 4 p.m. “We want to invite the community at large to come see this wonderful facility,” McQuaid said.

A Catholic high school, Our Lady of Mercy, is currently under construction on the county line on Ga. Highway 138. It is expected to open next fall.

Next week: Public and private, in the same family. Parents and childen share perspectives on the two systems.