Excitement reigns at schools across the archdiocese

On a quiet morning at Saint Mary Catholic School in Ponca City, Principal Wade Laffey is one of the only staff members present on a hot summer morning, and his office is as quiet as the halls of the school itself in the days before students fill every space.

Laffey ducked into a conference room, eager to talk about the upcoming school year, one already experiencing a positive start, with an uptick in students over last year.

“Enrollment looks up. We’re anticipating 110 to 115 students this year,” he said. “Last year, we had about 105, so that is good.”

Saint Mary Catholic School serves students from Pre-K through eighth grade. Among the school year goals, one to increase reading proficiency throughout all grades with an incentive-based program.

“We’re hoping to provide a school-wide reading rewards program,” Laffey said. “Students read books and then they would take a quiz over the book to check for comprehension. If they pass, then they can accumulate points. If they get a certain number of points, they can win awards and prizes.”

Just inside the front door of the school is a glass case with a Saint Mary Catholic School jersey. It has been many years since the school had an athletics program, but the school gym, located downstairs, still provides a steam release for the kids, especially when the weather isn’t cooperating.

The gym also has the original mascot logo of the school, but it will soon be replaced with a modern emblem of the school. While not finished, new upgrades to the gym are underway, putting new colors onto the facility through repainting.

The school is working to return athletics in coming years for students in seventh and eighth grade with the assistance of Ponca City Public Schools.

“We have to have permission from the school board in Ponca City in order to partner with the Ponca City teams,” Laffey said.

School nutrition is now in the hands of the school, as they are making their own lunches in Fellowship Hall beneath the church. Before, they were cooked by PCPS and delivered to be served.

All Saints Catholic School in Norman, also Pre-K through eighth grade, opens to many changes, including increased security, featuring a full-time school resource officer for the first time, as well as playground improvements.

Lou Ann Wood is the principal of the school, which has students from several suburban parishes, including Saint Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church in Moore, and Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church and Saint Joseph Catholic Church, both of Norman.

They also will be implementing a new school-wide educational program through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts.

“It should be a super fun learning opportunity for students that will engage their higher-order thinking skills, problem solving skills,” Wood said.

The most fun part of the new school may come on the playground, which had gone without updates for more than two decades.

“I it was time for a refresh,” Wood said.

Like all schools, they are looking forward to a new year, and seeing the kids’ faces once again in their classrooms.

“We’re very happy to have kids back in the school,” Wood said. “We have missed them terribly.”

Everett Brazil, III is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.

Photo: (Above) Students from St. Mary Catholic School in Ponca City arrived for the first day of school on Aug. 14. Photo Everett Brazil, III/Sooner Catholic.


Fr. Timothy Fuller blessed classrooms at All Saints Catholic School in Norman. Photo provided.