South County : Catholic School Fund Drive at Halfway Mark

Private fund raising has hit the halfway mark for the county’s fifth Catholic high school, campaign supporters said this week.

Santa Margarita High School, now under construction on a 36-acre site between Mission Viejo and Coto de Caza, is designed to relieve pressure on Mater Dei High School, the largest Catholic secondary school and the only coeducational one in the county.

More than $6.3 million has been raised for the Rancho Santa Margarita facility, according to drive co-chairmen Tony Moiso and Art Birtcher. In addition to the $12.6 million in privately raised funds, $10.4 million has been committed by the Unity and Growth Fund of the Diocese of Orange.

“Building Santa Margarita Catholic High School was a dream the late Bishop William R. Johnson held for more than a decade,” said John T. Steinbock, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Orange, in a written statement. “Speaking on behalf of the more than 600,000 Catholics in Orange County, I couldn’t be more pleased with the fund-raising progress.”

The new high school “is a great ambition,” said Norman F. McFarland, bishop of the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas and bishop-elect of Orange, in a telephone interview from Nevada. “The vision is to be applauded,” he said.

Santa Margarita is scheduled to open in September with about 300 freshmen, eventually growing to accommodate a student body of 2,000 and a faculty of 150. The four-year college preparatory program will be open to Catholic and non-Catholic students, according to Father Michael A. Harris, principal of Mater Dei, who also will serve as founding principal of Santa Margarita.

When completed, Harris said, Santa Margarita will increase the capacity of Catholic high schools in Orange County from 4,100 to 6,100 students.