BOUNTIFUL — St. Olaf Catholic School is about to launch its first phase of renovations to update the school.
The school was founded in 1960 and the parish that now sits next to the school was founded 80 years ago. Since then, the buildings have seen few enhancements. About 10 years ago, leaders in the St. Olaf community began the conversation to create a fund to support improvements, said Simon McFall, principal.
In the spring of 2017 the church and school community started to open bids for the project, selecting a construction team and prioritizing the improvements that need to be done.
“We wanted to make sure that we met the needs of our community, and to be able to continue the service our school and parish provides to the surrounding community,” McFall said.
The groundbreaking for the first phase of the improvement project is set for March 1. Because the school sits on a hill, water and drainage issues have to be addressed first, McFall said. Also included in the first phase will be electrical and utilities upgrades for both the current building and a planned expansion.
“The third part of it is to increase the accessibility of our parking so both our parishioners and our school families have better access to parking and … it is also in compliance with ADA rules and regulations,” McFall said.
To fund the renovations, St. Olaf parishioners originally raised about $350,000. The school then received a $1.4 million grant, and with the launch of a public campaign in the fall, “we have been able to raise more money from the parishioners, past alumni and friend of the school,” he said, adding that additional funds are still needed to complete the project.
As the only Catholic school in Davis County, St. Olaf has a great relationship with its surrounding community, “so we are looking just to continue and improve and develop our property and our facility under the guidance of our new pastor Fr. Andrezej [Skrzypiec], to really continue to serve the local community as well as our parish community,” McFall said.
He became the school principal in 2018, “and my job and my role is just really to be a servant to this community, and I am just trying to fulfill the work that was done by the former pastors and principals before me,” he said.
Those who worked on the project before he arrived at the school were diligent in building a foundation, “so I am just trying to be steward enough to support their dreams and the dreams of our parish and school community,” he said.
When people live up their mission and meet their responsibilities and roles in the parish and school communities, then they unite in a common front, he said.
“We can make our faith vibrant in the community and we can keep the light shining bright for all our children,” he said. “ Our hope is that if we lead with faith and we feed our children with a life of faith that is inspiring, potential and meaningful, we will create stewards for the future.”
St. Olaf has three generations of students who now are adults who are being called to support the school and the parish where they grew up, he said.
“Our Catholic faith, our Catholic schools and our Catholic churches are depending upon us to continue to inspire people to be stewards in the communities that they grew up in, where they live in, and where they were raised in, so that those communities live on for generations,” McFall said.
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