Nearly a year after Newport Central Catholic High School launched a capital campaign to raise money for school facilities improvements, the school announced they successfully reached a key $13 million milestone.
Last November, Newport Central Catholic publicized its ‘Looking Up Capital Campaign’, which outlined several construction initiatives, as well as a fundraising goal to energize the school system after facing roughly 15 years of declining enrollment. At the time, LINK nky reported that 17 donors had already committed $7.8 million to the campaign.
Some of the initiatives that will be financed by the fund include:
- Elimination of $1.2 million worth of school debt.
- Construction of a new Science Learning Center complete with STEM Labs.
- Improvements to existing facilities such as roof repair/replacement, campus entryway enhancements, driveway expansion, and HVAC upgrades to the gymnasium and original school building.
- Construction of on-campus multi-purpose athletic complex. The facility would provide a home field for boys and girls soccer, track, and football teams, and a practice facility for baseball and softball teams.
On Thursday, Newport Central Catholic leadership unveiled several prospective dates for beginning their facilities improvements. Additionally, they announced the school successfully eliminated $1.2 million of its debt in April.
“This campaign is a testament to the care of our community on The Hill and the progress our school is experiencing,” Principal Kenny Collopy said in a news release.
Construction on Newport Central Catholic’s new Science Learning Center is set to complete in January 2024. The school infrastructure upgrades will start next spring.
The school will also break ground on its new multi-purpose athletic complex next spring once 50% of the funds needed for the complex are in hand, according to the release.
Newport Central Catholic’s enrollment numbers have started to turn around. The school experienced a 10% enrollment increase for the 2023-24 school year, already surpassing projections from its Strategic Plan.
“The freshman class is made up of students from 22 different middle schools. The reputation of NCC is rippling beyond the traditional geographic areas of the community and capturing the attention of those from northern and southern Campbell County and across the Licking and Ohio Rivers. This campaign is also monumental, as it includes six of the largest gifts in the school’s history – allowing NCC to see immediate impact,” said Collopy.
While Collopy celebrated the school’s achievement, he also said there is still work to do.
“We have a total of $17 million in needs and wants within our Master Plan and as many of us know, unforeseen costs can arise,” Collopy said. “We are counting on our community to take us to the next level.”
