Students at Immaculata Catholic and Asheville Catholic schools return to school together on Oct. 16. (Provided photos)HENDERSONVILLE — As communities across western North Carolina begin the long recovery from Tropical Storm Helene, students returned to Immaculata Catholic School – and students from Asheville Catholic School joined them.
The schools are “temporarily merging,” their principals Margaret Beale and Melissa Stuart announced Oct. 8, until water service can be restored at Asheville Catholic School.
It’s unclear how long the arrangement will remain in place. Asheville’s municipal water system is offline due to extensive damage from Helene, with no timetable for when it will be functional again. But Asheville Catholic is exploring options including installing a portable water supply and possibly digging a well.
Asheville Catholic students are also invited to attend other Catholic schools in the diocese, where they might have family or easy-access, and some have already moved to schools in Charlotte and Greensboro. A distance learning option is also available.
Father Timothy Reid, vicar for education for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte, co-celebrated Mass Oct. 16 with Father Patrick Cahill, pastor of St. Eugene’s Catholic Church in Asheville and Father Andres Gutierrez, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church. Diocesan and school leaders did not want to delay restarting school, Beale and Stuart said in an email to parents of both schools, “because we realize the importance of in-person instruction.”
Immaculata has electricity and water and is repairing water damage to several areas of the school. Later this week, it the school will phase out relief efforts that have been operating out of the gym since the storm hit a week and a half ago, and the building will be readied for students to return.
Students from both schools returned to school simultaneously Oct. 16, attending Mass together at Immaculate Conception Church. Father Timothy Reid, vicar for education for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte, co-celebrated Mass with Father Patrick Cahill, pastor of St. Eugene’s Catholic Church in Asheville and Father Andres Gutierrez, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church.
To ensure adequate space for students, plans call for using Immaculata school and classroom/meeting space in the family life center at Immaculate Conception Church next door. Immaculata has 175 students and Asheville Catholic has 250.
“There will be opportunities for some classes to merge together, while others will operate more independently,” Beale and Stuart said. “However, we feel that this is a good opportunity for our two communities to come together and learn from one another.
— Catholic News Herald
Read their full message:
Bishop Martin talks with Immaculata Principal Margaret Beale and Asheville Catholic Principal Melissa Stuart.
We have been working with a team from the Catholic Schools Office and Asheville Catholic to get our schools back up and running. We realize the importance of in person instruction and want to get students safely back into the classroom ASAP.
We are blessed to have both power and water restored at the Immaculata campus. That being said, Asheville Catholic remains without water. They are actively working on a plan to get water to their campus, but in the meantime, we have come up with way for their students to also be able to return to in person learning.
Next week, ICS and ACS will temporarily merge on Immaculata’s campus while a team continues to work behind the scenes to get water to Asheville’s campus. We have created a plan that will allow for both students from Immaculata and Asheville Catholic to come together and continue their learning.
There will be opportunities for some classes to merge together, while others will operate more independently. However, we feel that this is a good opportunity for our two communities to come together and learn from one another. Monday and Tuesday (14th and 15th) will be teacher workdays, and the first day for students will be Wednesday, October 16th.
We are continuing to work through the logistics and will follow up with another email to share those details with you soon. We are excited to be able to host our fellow Catholic school on our campus. I am sure there will be some bumps along the way, but through God’s grace I believe that this will be a time of generous charity. We are stronger together, and this will be a true example of that! We look forward to seeing all our students back in our halls soon.
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