WATERLOO - Cedar Valley Catholic Schools officials have been meeting with small groups of parents and parishioners in recent months to make the case for a $10.5 million capital campaign.

They took that effort to new heights Tuesday with the help of the Isle Casino Hotel and former KWWL TV news anchor Bobbi Earles.

More than 50 people attended a social at the casino to hear about the need to build a consolidated middle school, which would use the bulk of the campaign's funds, and other plans for the money. The casino donated the meeting room, food and drinks for the gathering.

Mike Knipp, the school system's development director, said he was counting on those in attendance to be "ambassadors" for the campaign.

"We are going to be calling on you" to educate the public, he said. Organizers also hope those people will step up and make a donation to the campaign.

Almost $2 million has been raised since last fall. Officials hope to raise the rest of the money in the next year, possibly with the help of more socials like Tuesday's.

The consolidated middle school would be adjacent to Columbus High School, built at a cost of $8.1 million. Of the remaining funds, $1.3 million would go toward upgrades at Columbus, $600,000 would go for program changes at the three Waterloo elementary schools and $1 million would go into the system's endowment. CVCS started the fund-raising with $500,000 in the bank designated for the projects.

Earles' family was involved in the area's Catholic schools before moving to Dubuque in 2002. After enrolling her two daughters in Catholic schools there, plans emerged to create a consolidated middle school, which began in 2005 at an existing building. The newly built Mazzuchelli Middle School opened a year later, adjacent to Wahlert High School.

"Our faith really had a lot to do with our decision to send our child to a parochial school," said Earles, who is executive director of alumni & communications at Loras College. "We wanted them to be able to pray and discuss their faith."

Still, she said, the proposal to build a middle school raised a lot of questions. She heard concerns about being able to raise the money, how separating the elementary and middle grades would weaken parish schools, and that the children would be "way too close" to the high school students.

But she said the eventual opening of Mazzuchelli has allowed for a greater focus on those years between elementary and high school - from providing exploratory classes to hiring the best teachers for the job.

"From a curriculum standpoint, the middle school model allows the school to go out and find teachers who loved to be with middle schoolers," said Earles. In addition, the change has apparently promoted a growing attendance. When her daughter started at the newly built school, it had "roughly 300" students. As of last fall, 447 students had enrolled.

Karen Nank, a St. Edward School teacher, told attendees that middle school students have a "unique set of needs" and "simply need their own place and their own space."

Sheila Miller, the technology coordinator at Blessed Sacrament School, said that a consolidated middle school would allow teachers to focus on fewer subjects, leading to improvements in the classroom. Staff would meet in teams on a daily basis and have planning time built into the schedule. She said that would allow for collaboration to better deal with struggling students.

"Right now, we have fantastic teachers that are doing fantastic jobs," said Miller. "However, they are teaching in four or five areas."

She added: "This is visionary. It would be an awesome addition to our community."

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.