Charlottesville Catholic School

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Location
Charlottesville Catholic School
Charlottesville, VA, USA
Information
Head of School	Alan Yost
Enrollment	360 total
Type	Private religious affiliation = Catholic
Campus	City, 20 acres 3 buildings
Athletics	Basketball, Lacrosse, Tennis, Volleyball
Color(s)	Yellow, Blue and White
Established	1996
Homepage	http://www.cvillecatholic.org

Charlottesville Catholic School' (also called CCS) is a private school under the jurisdiction of the Diocese Of Richmond. It is a day school for pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.

The school is located on 49 acres in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, and is widely considered to be one of the best and most prestigious private schools, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

[edit] History

Charlottesville Catholic School was brought into being by a small dedicated group of local parents who wanted a Catholic based education for their children. The school first opened its doors in the fall of 1996. The school started with an initial faculty of three teachers and 32 children in kindergarten, first, and second grades. Class was then held in space rented from the Congregation Beth Israel on East Jefferson Street in downtown Charlottesville across the street from Holy Comforter Church. The downtown location allowed the new school to take advantage of the public library, local public park, and Holy Comforter church for Mass and other Catholic sacraments.

Dedicated to adding a new grade each year, the school soon outgrew the available space at the synagogue. Another temporary location was found at 200 Four Seasons Drive in a building which had been vacated by Atlantic Coast Athletic Club (ACAC). In September of 1998, the school opened at its new location with 105 students in kindergarten through fourth grade. The new location provided increased parking, outdoor play space, and a multipurpose room for assemblies and Masses. The added space also allowed for the inclusion of art, music, and physical education teachers to the curriculum. This new property also allowed the addition of the school's own library. The following year, 1999, the school added a fifth grade and for the first time, two classes of kindergarten. The popularity of the school continued to grow, with waiting lists for many of the classes.

After a several year search with support of the Diocese, the Charlottesville Catholic School secured its current site with the purchase of twenty acres of farm land adjacent to Pen Park on East Rio Road just outside the Charlottesville city limits. On October 23, 1999, Bishop Walter F. Sullivan presided over the ground breaking ceremonies for the permanent home of the Charlottesville Catholic School.

CCS's current location opened in the fall of 2001. It has room to accommodate two classes of each grade from kindergarten through eighth grade as well as a preschool classroom. The new building opened to children in grades K-7. The building of Saint Dunstan Chapel was completed in January 2002 and serves as a prayerful gathering place for up to two classes of children or more.A multipurpose building was completed in 2003 and provides gym space as well as an expanded place for lunch and school-wide gatherings.

Recently in mid 2007 the basement was converted into an expanded lunchroom, music room, computer "lab", Art room and extra storage space.