Orthodox church school to open

Friday, August 24, 2007

BY JUDITH PATTON
Of The Patriot-News

While the new Orthodox Christian Academy has met with some challenges, organizers plan to open the school for kindergartners and first-graders on Sept. 4 as planned.

Classes will be held in the parish hall of the Holy Annunciation Macedonian-Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church, 721 N. Front St., Steelton.

Plans to use three rooms and an office at the former Town and Country Day School in Lower Paxton Twp. fell through when the new owners set the monthly rent at $2,006, said the Very Rev. Daniel D. Ressetar, president of the academy board of directors.

"We could not afford that," he said.

So the organizers searched and found space at the Steelton church. Now somebody has stepped up to pay the $400 a month rent there, Ressetar said.

Next, the academy needs more students. About 50 parents attended an open house on Sunday, with five students committed to attend, the priest said.

Organizers would like to have 20 students for the first year of operation.

Many Orthodox children attend private Roman Catholic and Protestant schools and public schools, Ressetar said.

While the academy is Orthodox faith-based, it is open to other students. Services and festivals of the Orthodox Christian Church will be built into the schedule.

The organizing churches are Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Wormleysburg, Christ the Saviour Church of Lower Paxton Twp., St. Nicholas Serbian Church of Oberlin, Holy Annunciation Church and Holy Apostles Church of Mechanicsburg.

The school will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. to accommodate working parents.

The staff will consist of a headmaster and his wife, who are teachers, and will be supplemented by qualified volunteers.

JUDITH PATTON: 255-8177 or jpatton@patriot-news.com

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