Bishop Ryan Catholic School general capital campaign co-chair Bruce Kramer and Supt. Terry Voiles said they'd love to see a ground breaking for a school addition at the school next spring.
The Catholic school is in the middle of a capital campaign to raise at least $5 million for construction of a new classroom addition on the south side of the school, renovation and updating of the school library into a state of the art media center and upgrading of science labs for the middle and high schools.
Thus far $3.6 million has been raised. Voiles and Kramer said they're pleased with how well the capital campaign has gone this early in the process, but there remains more to be done.
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This is what the completed addition at Bishop Ryan Catholic School might look like.
Kramer and others have met with potential donors and informational materials are due to be sent out to alumni of Bishop Ryan and friends of the Minot Catholic Schools in hopes of garnering more donations. Voiles and Kramer said they also plan to extend their efforts to other locations that have a large number of Ryan alumni.
The project is required because Ryan is growing. After the flood of 2011, elementary school students were moved over to Ryan. The Minot Catholic Schools' strategic plan had called for a K-12 school and a building addition at Ryan eventually, but the flood moved up the timeline by about four years.
Voiles said the school has managed well with the additional students, but adding K-5 has meant both the elementary and the high school has had to do without some things they would like to have.
There are 50 new students at Ryan in grades K-12 this school year and Voiles anticipates that the ongoing oil boom will bring more students to the school, which makes the classroom addition even more important.
The timeline for the project depends on a number of factors. Voiles said it would be better to get started sooner rather than later, particularly since the cost of materials and construction projects in the region continues to go up.
The school's first priority is construction of six new classrooms on the south end of the school. The new elementary wing will provide specialized learning spaces each for preschool, kindergarten and first grade. The new space will eliminate existing crowding issues and allow for future growth. The preschool and elementary classrooms will be grouped together in a single hallway.
The middle school science lab will be built around existing plumbing in the former home economics classroom and will have ample space for lab stations, storage and display areas. An upgraded high school lab will be the first renewal of that learning space in more than 20 years, according to the school.
The new media center will supplement technology in the classroom by expanding traditional library uses and will include a computer learning lab as well as hardcovers, paperbacks, periodicals and special collections for older students. A new children's library will be relocated to the elementary wing.
The capital campaign is also seeking to raise at least $2 million for an endowment that will help improve compensation for teachers.
People who would like to contribute can call 838-3355 or respond by mail to 316-11th Ave. NW, Minot, N.D. 58703.
The other general campaign chair is Jon Backes.