St. Peter Catholic School will reinvent itself as the St. Peter Academy of Health for the 2012-2013 school year, according to Father Anil Thomas of St. Peter Catholic Church.
Under the new name the school will focus on students from kindergarten through the fourth grade, eliminating the fifth and sixth grades that the school currently offers.
“We only have two or three students in these upper grades,” Thomas said as he explained that the school cannot remain financially viable without a drastic revamp. “The school cannot continue in its present form.”
Thomas led the seven day fight to prevent the imminent closure of the school in November that culminated in the raising of the $150,000 that was required to keep the school functioning through May.
“I thought a lot about what our next step should be,” Thomas said. “St. Peter is starting a unique program. The economic sector of our county that produces the most jobs is the hospital and the health care industry. We are going to have training, partnerships with health care facilities and guests who will come in to speak with the students. We will be educating tomorrow’s health and medical professionals.”
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Thomas said that even if the students decide on a different career path their time in the program will have equipped them to lead healthy lives.
“We will be teaching good living habits to our students whether or not they go into the health care profession,” Thomas said. “We will be teaching holistic health.”
Thomas said that medical professionals in the community with connections to St. Peter have agreed to lend their support to developing a course of study that augments the Core Catholic Curriculum from the Diocese of Little Rock with health and wellness-centered programs.
“This is the first time that a program like this has focused on younger grades,” Thomas said.
“In November I put the seven-seven-seven plan into place,” Thomas said. “We raised the money we needed in the short term within seven days. Next we had seven months to organize the school. The development of St. Peter Academy of Health will be our long-term seven year plan. This is the beginning of that plan.”