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St. Patrick School to be dedicated Jan. 29
Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo will officially dedicate the new St. Patrick Catholic School in Norfolk on Sunday, Jan. 29, with Mass at 2 p.m. in the school gymnasium.
The school, located on a 16.5-acre campus in the Larchmont section of Norfolk adjacent to Old Dominion University, is the first new Catholic school in the city in 50 years.
St. Patrick’s opened in August 2005. There are currently 185 students in grades pre-k through 6. The school has received an additional 150 applications for the next academic year, said Stephen J. Hammond, principal. Classes were initially held in the former School of Nursing at Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk until construction of the new building was completed. Students began attending classes in the new building on Jan. 9.
 Fully funded by the James-Barry Robinson Trust, the school is designed to provide Catholic education to children of all faiths and socio-economic backgrounds in grades pre-kindergarten through eight. Classes for the 7th grade will be added in August and the 8th grade will be added in August 2007.
Mr. Hammond, founding principal, previously served for 17 years as Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Nashville. He came to St. Patrick’s after serving as headmaster of Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tenn., an independent school near Nashville with grades k–12. “We have been able to assemble a great faculty that will enable us to identify, nurture and celebrate the gifts of each child we serve,” Mr. Hammond said. The new facility will have an art, library/media center housing 14,000 hard volume books, a computer lab for electronic research and a distance learning room to facilitate video conferencing, teleconferencing and interactive activities.
The academic wing will have 24 classrooms and full service computer and science labs. In addition, there will be a 250-seat dining hall with family style seating and student servers; a 350-seat performing arts theater; a high school size gymnasium that can seat approximately 300 people for athletic events and up to 1,900 for special events; two full sized baseball fields, and junior and full sized lacrosse/soccer fields.
In remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony in September 2004, Charles V. McPhillips, chairman of the James-Barry Robinson Trust, said it has been 20 years since the west side of Norfolk has had a Catholic elementary or high school. “St. Patrick Catholic School is intended to fill a void in Catholic education on the west side of Norfolk that has formed over the last 20 years as Blessed Sacrament, Sacred Heart and St. Mary’s parishes closed their schools,” Mr. McPhillips said.
There are three other Catholic schools in Norfolk — St. Pius X, Holy Trinity and Christ the King. “Barry-Robinson also gives support to the other Catholic elementary schools in Norfolk so that an excellent Catholic education is available wherever one lives in the city,” Mr. McPhillips added. “Indeed, we are proud to participate in a city-wide renaissance in Catholic education.” 
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