Three years after bringing Catholic education back to Lebanon County, Our Lady of the Cross School has a good problem. It’s out of room, as demonstrated by the four temporary modular classrooms in the parking lot.
“Since September of 2021, our enrollment has more than tripled,” said Debra Waters, whose official title is Head of School. “We had 33 students in kindergarten through 12th grade when we started. Now, we have 114 registered for the 2024-25 school year.”
O.L.C. opened September of 2021, a year after the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg closed Lebanon Catholic School following the 161 years of Catholic education in Lebanon County.
O.L.C., according to Waters, operates independently of the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg and receives no direct support from it. However, it teaches the same basic curriculum taught in diocesan schools, and diocesan priests participate in the school’s religious activities.
While not a diocesan school, “we consider O.L.C. a school teaching in the Catholic tradition,” Waters noted.
To address the overcrowding, the L.C. Strong foundation — the non-profit owner of the school on Grace Avenue in North Lebanon Township — purchased 11.26 acres of farmland across the street from the existing building for $321,411 in June.
The new property, which is already zoned for a school, “has been for sale since we bought the current school,” Waters said. “It’s a good area. We’ve made a home in North Lebanon Township and we have great neighbors.”
Waters added that “it’s smart for us to expand across the street, because we can phase in any kind of growth.”
Waters told LebTown that groundbreaking and construction schedules have yet to be set, but an engineer and an architect have been retained, and preliminary site plans have been drawn up.
A fundraising feasibility study is underway, according to Waters. Depending on how much can be raised, the new property could eventually be home to a fully-equipped school building, a soccer field, a parking lot, a playground, and a storm water runoff area, built all at once or in stages.
“If we put everything in at one time at the beginning,” Waters said, “a new building could include enough classrooms, a cafeteria, an auditorium, a chapel, office space, and a gym.”
While a firm groundbreaking date isn’t known, “what we do know is that it needs to happen quickly,” Waters said. “Our enrollment is growing, and we would like to build a space that is worthy of the education that happens within it.”
Read More:
- Catholic school enrollment is growing again at new school in Lebanon County
- After year absence, Catholic education returns to Lebanon County this fall
- [Photo Story] Our Lady of the Cross community does best imitation of a barn raising to open new school
Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
Free news isn’t cheap. If you value the journalism LebTown provides to the community, then help us make it sustainable by becoming a champion of local news. You can unlock additional coverage for the community by supporting our work with a one-time contribution, or joining as a monthly or annual member. You can cancel anytime.
More Top Stories
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
