Rebuilding of Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic School (Dodge City, KS)

I grew up in Dodge City, and it’s the community where my children attended church and school. Supporting the rebuilding of Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic School is deeply personal for me—it’s a way to give back to the place that shaped my family and helped form the values we carry forward today. This project will create a new multipurpose school building that serves students in Pre-K through 8th grade during the day, while also functioning as a faith-based educational space for children and adults in the evenings and on weekends. My hope is that this investment strengthens both the school and the broader parish community for generations to come.

The need for a new facility is immediate. The current school building dates back to 1916 and has undergone multiple additions over the decades as enrollment grew. While it has served the community faithfully, the building is now outdated, inefficient, and difficult to navigate—particularly for individuals with physical limitations or disabilities. The parish itself is large and culturally diverse, but with limited financial resources. As a designated mission parish, careful stewardship is essential. A new, purpose-built school will provide a safer, more secure, technologically advanced, and efficient learning environment—one that better supports students, teachers, and staff alike.

The new school will be built on parish-owned property adjacent to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which was completed in 2001 following the merger of two parishes to better serve a growing community. From the earliest planning stages of the Cathedral, relocating the parish school to this campus was envisioned as a long-term goal. More than 20 years later, that vision is becoming reality. The new location on North 14th Avenue will consolidate three existing school sites into one unified campus, allowing the parish to retire aging facilities while creating a school that is more visible, secure, and accessible for families.

Construction is currently underway, with a time-lapse of the project captured in July 2025 below. Teachers and students are expected to begin the 2026–2027 school year in their new building, with doors opening in August 2026.