Bishop blesses unified Central Catholic school

The newly unified Catholic school in Morgan City, now known as Central Catholic, a merger of Central Catholic High and Holy Cross Elementary, received a formal blessing Tuesday from the area diocese’s bishop.

Officials held a blessing and dedication Tuesday for the unified diocesan school of Central Catholic for the 2018-19 school year, which began last week.

Bishop Shelton Fabre of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux served as celebrant.

“Catholic education is very, very important. We much teach faith to our young people,” Fabre said.

Such an education is also about preparing students for life and to be good citizens, he said. Fabre blessed the school, students, faculty, staff and parents during a ceremony following Mass.

“I thank you for your belief that what we are doing together is very, very important, and to the best of our ability ensures Catholic education will be here in Morgan City for years to come,” he said.

Fabre greatly appreciated what everyone involved in the merging of schools has accomplished, he said.

Burt Adams, chairman of Vision 2020 which was responsible for the merger, said the unified school’s overall strategic goals remain unchanged. Those goals are fostering spiritual formation, academic excellence and a healthy learning environment, Adams said.

Adams has been associated with Catholic education for over 40 years and is currently a teacher at Central Catholic.

“We all share the vision of the future that allows for great success in Catholic education in our area for the very long-term,” Adams said.

School leaders announced plans for the merger in November 2017, and the name change was announced in May.

Holy Cross Elementary had comprised Pre-K3 through sixth grade, while Central Catholic High comprised seventh grade through 12th grade. Now, Pre-K3 through fifth grade compose Central Catholic Elementary, sixth through eighth grade Central Catholic Junior High, and ninth through 12 grade Central Catholic High.

At the time officials announced the merger, Central Catholic High Principal Vic Bonnaffee said school leaders saw a need to re-create the unified efforts used to raise money for building projects, and use those combined efforts “in marketing and recruitment as well as in the curriculum and the services being offered and in the formation of students.”