This

is the third in a series of articles comparing

Fayette County's public and church schools.

What

differences would a parent notice if she opted to

pull her child out of public school and put him

into one of the church schools now open in

Fayette County?

For that

matter, what differences would the student note?

In this series,

Sallie Satterthwaite goes inside some of

Fayette's public and private schools to provide

an indepth look at what's different, and what's

the same.

At

Our Lady of Victory Catholic School on Kirkley

Road north of Tyrone, art and symbolism are

constant reminders that this is a Roman Catholic

elementary school - the first, in fact, in

Fayette County.

The

most conspicuous differences a parent of a public

school student will note here are the crucifix

and a statue of the Virgin Mary, which greet

visitors as clear emblems of the school's

spiritual orientation. There is also religious

symbolism in every classroom, where each day

begins with prayer.

Our

Lady of Victory draws from 12 different parishes

in Fulton, Coweta,and Fayette counties, and has

200 students in kindergarten through eighth grade

this year. Administrators say the school can

accommodate 250 and is already receiving calls

for next year's admissions. While non-Catholic

students are accepted, Catholic families get

priority for admission.

In

a recent telephone interview, Sallie McQuaid, Our

Lady of Victory's new principal, said she

believes the big difference is "faith

formation," the goal of every activity at

the school.

"Faith

formation is integrated with all subjects, all

day," she said. "A Catholic education

has always had a reputation for academic

excellence. We think of this as a preparatory

school for high school and college. We try to

teach service to school, to parents, to one

another, and to the community."

Religion

classes are taught each day at every grade level

and worship services take place weekly, with the

older students responsible for preparing them

within their classes. In addition, priests from

the parishes served by the school "come in

on a rotating basis to assist us in our

services," McQuaid said, "and hold

whole school eucharistic liturgies once a

month."

Our

Lady of Victory is not for every student, said

McQuaid, who from 1988 to 1994 was principal at

St. John the Evangelist Elementary School in

Hapeville - for many years the only Catholic

school on the south side.

"I

wish we could serve all students," McQuaid

continued, "but we don't have the

wherewithal for exceptional students. We evaluate

[applicants] and make recommendations for public

school programs. A public school serves all by

virtue of it being public; Catholic schools serve

those who want their children to have a Catholic

education."

While

multi-cultural in composition, the school's

population is majority Anglo-Saxon, with some

African-American students and a small number of

Asian and multi-racial children.

The

school opened just after Labor Day, with as many

as 28 students in a room, the principal said.

Each class has one teacher; some have teaching

assistants. Not all the teachers are Catholic,

although all who teach religion are.

Our

Lady of Victory has a computer lab, a media

center, and a music program, as well as physical

education and a full gymnasium. Just now clinics

in athletics are being offered because playing

fields were not yet ready when school started,

and administrators expect to be better poised for

athletics in the spring.

Catholic education is not cheap. Annual tuition

is expected to go up next year from the current

$3,950 per child. There will be a book fee, and

parents have to buy uniforms -

"Catholic plaid" jumpers and skirts for

the girls, khaki for the boys. Middle-school boys

wear ties.

There

is a commonly held perception that Our Lady of

Victory doesn't have to pay its own way because

it had the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta to

front the cost of the facility and its equipment.

This

is not the case, said McQuaid: "It's a tough

job. The archdiocese is not covering it. Our

giving dollar is being divided up into a million

pieces. The reality is that the archdiocese

cannot afford to subsidize all the schools.

"I

think Catholic schools are moving in the

direction of independence. Our Lady of Victory is

very, very dependent on the archdiocese. Tuition

does not cover the expenses and [the archdiocese]

cannot continue to do so. Their expectations of

us, as time goes along, will be to look at other

avenues, developing our constituency and

spreading the goods news of what we are about.

"Here

at Our Lady of Victory," the principal

continued, "we have a development director.

The public sector is doing the same thing."

She noted that public schools, for example, are

finding corporate sponsors for schools, selling

magazine subscriptions, cards and paper at

Christmas. These are all possible avenues for the

parochial school, McQuaid said: "We're

looking at fund-raisers to provide for the

school."

McQuaid

said that since 1994, she was "a very happy

homemaker," but when the archdiocese tapped

her for this position, was "glad I was able

to step in. I love Catholic eduction

dearly."

She

and her military husband, Ronald, sent their

children to Catholic schools whenever possible,

but were disappointed not to be able to get their

son into a Catholic school when they first moved

to Fayetteville.

Her

St. Pius graduate is now 24. She also has

children 33 and 38, and is the grandmother of

five.

Our

Lady of Victory will have an open house Jan. 30

from 2 to 4 p.m. "We want to invite the

community at large to come see this wonderful

facility," McQuaid said.

Catholic high school, Our Lady of Mercy, is

currently under construction on the county line

on Ga. Highway 138. It is expected to open next

fall.

Next

week: Public and private, in the same family.

Parents and childen share perspectives on the two

systems.

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