New leader shares plans for opening Catholic high school in Northwest Arkansas

John Rocha
John Rocha

The new head of a planned Northwest Arkansas Catholic high school aims to raise $500,000 by December.

That money will give John Rocha, head of the school, 18 months of operating revenue, money he plans to put to hiring two more key leaders for the school, office space, office equipment and marketing material. He also will begin a formal planning process for the high school.

Ozark Catholic Academy

ozarkcatholic.org

• Head of School: John Rocha Sr.

• Mission: “Embracing the Lasallian Tradition, Ozark Catholic Academy engages students in a rigorous, integrated education that enables them to behold the fullness of reality through both faith and reason and to live the virtues that make one fully human and truly free.”

Source: ozarkcatholic.org

Rocha plans to unveil a campus plan and formally start fundraising in January. The money will purchase 60 to 100 acres and construct the first three buildings of the campus, he said. He also wants enough money to cover two years of staff salaries and to pay for staff to attend training conferences, he said.

Rocha set Aug. 29, 2018, as the first day of school for Ozark Catholic Academy. He intends to begin with about 60 freshmen and sophomores, he said.

Rocha was announced as the head of school this month. He started visiting Northwest Arkansas as he transitions from his role as development director of Western Academy, an all-boys Catholic school he was involved in establishing in Houston, to the head of school for the planned Catholic high school in Northwest Arkansas. His next trip to the region is set for Sept. 20-24. His official duties with the school begin in January.

New developments toward a Catholic high school in Northwest Arkansas are exciting, said Ronnie Hoyt, who had five children attend St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Rogers. He has three grandchildren now in the school for children from 4 years old through eighth grade. Hoyt's family contributed to the fundraising effort to hire Rocha.

Hoyt, parish manager for St. Vincent, thinks highly of the area private and public high schools, but thinks having a Catholic high school would meet the needs of families wanting their teens' education to include faith development.

Hoyt attended a meeting last week where he heard Rocha share his plans for developing a Catholic high school with about a dozen priests from parishes in the four counties of the West Ozark Deanery of the Diocese of Little Rock.

"This has been a dream of ours for a long time," said Hoyt, who also was on the selection committee for the head of school. "I'm hopeful. The progress made gives me reason to believe we will, in fact, have a school in August of 2018."

Rocha's focus for the next few months is building relationships with the parishes and families with children at St. Joseph Catholic School in Fayetteville and St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Rogers.

Rocha's vision for the school includes paying teachers salaries that provide enough for one spouse to work and one spouse to stay at home, he said. He hopes to hire a staff with a range of experience.

St. Joseph School Board member Erica Erck described Rocha as a dynamic, enthusiastic leader who has the experience of opening Western Academy. Erck heard Rocha speak at the annual curriculum night Friday at St. Joseph, a Fayetteville Catholic school for children from prekindergarten to eighth grade.

Erck is encouraged Rocha is moving his wife and 10 children to Northwest Arkansas from Texas in December to dedicate himself to the project.

Erck, who has three children at St. Joseph, went to Mount St. Mary Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Little Rock. Her oldest child is in seventh grade and will start high school in two years, the same year projected for opening Ozark Catholic Academy.

"We've been talking about it and planning for two years," said Erck, whose husband John Erck has been on the planning board. "Now there's finally a person taking it on."

NW News on 08/30/2016

Upcoming Events