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WATERLOO -- Columbus High School students prayed for deceased alumni Nov. 1 during a special All Saints Day Mass in the school gymnasium.

Hundreds of former students and school supporters attended the service, watching as the high schoolers sang hymns and recited readings.

The holy day is one of many instances in which Roman Catholic schools in Waterloo reach out to local parishioners, creating a bridge between the classroom and their faith community.

In the coming months, officials with Cedar Valley Catholic Schools will attempt to strengthen that connection as they kick off an $8.5 million capital campaign. The money will be used to finance a middle school, improve educational offerings, increase tuition assistance and bolster staff salaries. Those initiatives were approved in May by the Archdiocese of Dubuque Board of Education.

"We think these things will help sustain Catholic schools in this area," said John McCoy, co-chair of the system's strategic planning committee.

The campaign follows on the heels of the formation of CVCS in 2002. Like that effort, the strategic plan is designed to combat declining enrollment and enhance student learning.

"The consolidation of the system, the consolidation of the middle school … these are ways that other Catholic churches and schools throughout the nation have addressed the same challenges and succeeded," McCoy said. "There have been sacrifices, no doubt, but we are trying to provide a positive alternative where we can all grow together and enhance Catholic education."

System leaders hope the proposed changes will keep standards high, while forming a viable structure for Catholic schools in the years to come.

"Yes there is an expense," McCoy said. "But ultimately, we believe this is the right thing for our system. This is the future."

Changing times

Since their heyday in the 1960s -- when Catholic schools educated 12 percent of U.S. children -- enrollment in church academies has sharply declined. In 2006, only 5 percent of American kids spent the school year in Catholic classrooms, according to the National Catholic Education Association.

Local statistics mirror that trend. In 1965 4,115 students attended Waterloo Catholic schools. Today a little more than 1,000 kids are enrolled in system schools.

Why the decrease? Catholic school supporters shake their heads when faced with that question.

"It's a number of things," explained Mary Beckey Kelly, CVCS marketing director. "And declining enrollment isn't only a private school problem in this area, it's a public school problem, too."

But parochial schools face challenges that don't plague their public sector peers.

"Catholic families just don't have as many kids as they did in the past, so that's brought down our numbers, and our staff used to be mostly religious -- nuns and priests," Kelly said. "Now lay people have taken over those duties and (employee) costs have gone up."

Those realities have created financial hardship for Catholic schools in Waterloo and across the nation. Increasing costs caused many schools to close or consolidate in the past decade. The number of U.S. Catholic schools went from 9,000 in 1990 to 7,500 in 2006, according the NCEA calculations.

Waterloo's St. Mary's, St. John's and Evansdale's St. Nicholas elementary schools were combined into Queen of Peace in 2000. Two years later that institution was one of five schools to form CVCS. It closed in 2006.

The remaining system schools are Columbus High School and Blessed Sacrament, Sacred Heart and St. Edward elementary schools.

"The closings and the consolidations were very, very painful for a lot of families within our system," said Tim Luce, co-chair of the CVCS strategic planning committee and a former CVCS school board president. "But now we are at the position where we are taking a look at what we have and deciding how to keep it healthy."

In June 2004, the CVCS board of education asked a group of school supporters to create a plan that would make the system fiscally sound, while maintaining the schools' high academic standards. More than 100 teachers, parishioners, parents and priests took part in the process.

After examining enrollment data, facilities needs, academic offerings and finances, the group developed a plan to guide the system for the next 50 years. Some suggestions, like streamlining curriculum and providing leadership training to student-athletes, have already been put in place. Other initiatives, such as constructing a middle school adjacent to Columbus and building a $1 million endowment, depend on financial support from the community.

A formal capital campaign is scheduled to start this winter. CVCS officials plan to create an informational DVD and brochure to educate community members about the system's future plans. Materials will also be distributed to alumni living out of state.

"We haven't been very good at telling our story," said Kelly. "But this is the time when we really need to start thinking of ways to let people know about the great things going on at Columbus and in all our schools."

Kids in the hall

But new buildings and updated teaching tactics aren't enough to maintain CVCS schools. Efforts to increase enrollment and tuition assistance will also be priorities as system officials prepare for the next chapter of Catholic education in the Cedar Valley.

"We want Catholic schools to be available to everyone," said Cathy Walz, system director of education. "We want to strike the right balance. We don't want to put so much pressure on the parishes that they aren't solvent, and we don't want to put tuition so high that we become exclusive."

Local parishes supply roughly 45 percent of CVCS's $5 million annual budget. The remainder of school expenses is covered by tuition and donations. This year, Catholic families were charged $1,450 per elementary student and $3,470 per high school student. Children who do not belong to an area parish were charged between $2,150 and $4,825.

That is a steep price for many families. About 35 percent of system students have benefited from tuition assistance. As school officials plan improvements to local Catholic schools, they are also working to make their services available to more children.

This year CVCS distributed almost $500,000 in aid. Half of that amount came from the Archdiocese's Student Tuition Organization, a new funding source for 2007-08. Created through Iowa's Educational Opportunities Act, STOs allow state residents to receive a tax credit equal to 65 percent of their contribution when they give to private schools. At least 90 percent of STO donations go toward scholarships for families three times below the federal poverty level.

"This truly helps us with our mission," said Jeff Henderson, superintendent of the 54 Catholic schools in the archdiocese. "This is something that is going to help Catholic schools remain viable and an option for all families."

Leap of faith

Increased scholarship funds strengthens system officials' confidence in their strategic plan. The aid could help bring new students to Catholic schools and ensure current students remain.

But CVCS supporters still have a lot of work ahead of them when it comes to promoting the most expensive part of their plan: a $6.1 million middle school.

The new building would offer sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders more specialized lessons and extracurricular activities, but the new facility would also remove the youngsters from parish schools.

Several families and church members are worried about the price tag. System officials know they will have to win over the hearts and minds of some parishioners still sour about the school closings in 2000 and 2006 to make the project a success.

"There is some bitterness in the area," said Charles Schaefer, a member of Queen of Peace and longtime supporter of Catholic education. "The closing of churches and schools didn't sit right with a lot of people."

Soliciting money for a middle school may be a tough sell, he said, but system improvements are needed.

"The most important thing is that we keep Catholic education," said Schaefer, a 1945 St. Mary's graduate who sent his seven children to Waterloo Catholic Schools. "How they do it is not as important, in my estimation, as making sure we still have good Catholic schools for our kids."

Contact Mary Stegmeir at (319) 291-1482 or mary.stegmeir@wcfcourier.com.