St. Joseph, Ost, Catholic School continues vigorous growth

With the school’s July 17-29 enrollment underway, Liz Charles, principal of St. Joseph Catholic School in Ost, marvels at its student population, which she notes is expanding, even though the available space in which to place it has not. 

“These are very good problems to have; Fr. Bernie refers to them as growing pains;” she said, referring to St. Joseph Pastor Fr. Bernard Gorges. “We have to be very creative, readjusting some room configurations, moving classrooms, and relocating our library.”

Since the 2022-23 school year, St. Joseph Catholic School enrollment has increased 35%, Fr. Gorges notes, which he attributes to the school’s enthusiastic Catholic identity and demonstrable academic excellence.

“Students have Mass every day; adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every Friday, and confession once a month,” he said. “We are centered on the Eucharist.”

“This also says a lot about the growth in our feeder parishes,” Charles said. “They are all very, very supportive of Catholic education and are willing to support it.”

One example Fr. Gorges cites of the school’s academic excellence are 2023 figures from the Kansas State Department of Education. They showed that St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School topped every school in the state for math proficiency among low-income students, and ranked third among all students. Its English language arts proficiency also led Kansas among low-income students and ranked fourth among all students. 

Those rankings are out of about 1,300 Kansas grade schools, he observes.

Taken care of

One example of the growing-pain-induced creativity to which Charles points deals with the school’s move to split its kindergarten and first grades into two separate classes because of size. “It has required multiple – and I do mean multiple – conversations with Father about the best use of our space,” she said. “After we talk, he meets with the people who handle the building and grounds to explore the feasibility, and they make decisions from there.”

That is why the library is relocating: All of St. Joseph’s middle school classrooms are headed into that space. 

The school added a new building a little more than a decade ago, Fr. Gorges details, which spread the school campus across six buildings. “We are in the process of trying to strategically plan the growth of the school, trying to get the children all in one building,” he said. “I have told everybody that we are going to have to go through some uncomfortable times. We are all going to all be stressed for about two or three years.”

Nevertheless, he and Charles both express confidence that the school will continue to thrive. 

“When I step on the St. Joseph, Ost, campus, I just feel the Holy Spirit alive and present,” Charles said. “It’s like nothing I have ever experienced. It is a community that believes and lives its faith, from teachers to staff to students to parents.”

Fr. Gorges indicates a motto of “ora et labora” – prayer and work – permeates both the school and parish. “A big part of the culture is very hardworking families,” he said.

The other reason for confidence boils down to the school’s namesake. Charles and Fr. Gorges indicate the 2024-25 school year included some significant and unexpected logistical challenges. 

“Fr. Bernie told me, ‘Don’t worry, St. Joseph always takes care of us,’” Charles said. “I have always held on to that, and he has taken care of us.”