By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic

Members of the board for Mother Teresa Catholic School, a new Diocese of Dallas campus being developed in Collin County, held their inaugural board meeting April 24 at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Parish in Allen. Mother Teresa Catholic School, tentatively scheduled to open in the fall of 2026, will be located on 26 acres at the northwest corner of Independence Parkway and Main Street in Frisco.

“So many people have already put their heart and soul into this project,” said Dr. Rebecca Hammel, superintendent of Diocese of Dallas Catholic Schools. “This meeting was an opportunity to hear about what got us to this point, the work that has been accomplished, and then establish what our next steps are.”

The Mother Teresa board of directors includes Tom Reidy, Cecilia Colbert, Angel Gonzalez, Dave Bender, John Kraft, Robert Mackey, Father Rudy Garcia, Fernando Vazquez, Tammie James, Kathleen Frye, Joe Walker, and Scott Ripberger. Reidy will serve as the board’s chairperson while Hammel will serve as vice chair. Colbert, chief financial officer for the Diocese of Dallas, will serve as board treasurer until one is named and head its finance committee. Bender will chair the board’s advancement committee and Kraft will chair its ad hoc marketing committee.

To start the meeting, Hammel shared a video message from Bishop Edward J. Burns, reflecting his commitment to expanding the reach and impact of diocesan Catholic schools.

“It’s so very important that when people walk onto the campus of a Catholic school, they know that something’s different. And that difference is a faithfulness, a dedication, and a commitment as we integrate a faithfulness of spirituality, and especially for our Catholic students, the celebration of the sacraments; therein lies the cultivation of a future disciple,” Bishop Burns said. “It’s important that we take the blessings that we have and use them for the greater good; and in particular, as Christians and as Catholics, we do it all for the glory of God.”

The need for a school serving the growing population in northern Collin County first came to light because of a study commissioned in 2013.

“What resulted from that study was the creation of two strategic plans,” Hammel explained. “One committed to elementary schools and the other on high schools.”

While the study was commissioned a decade ago, Hammel said it contains valuable information concerning the landscape of Catholic schools in the diocese.

“For instance, what they learned through the study is that 82 percent of the parishioners in the Diocese of Dallas believe that Catholic education is vital to the future of the Catholic Church and that our Catholic schools are extremely important for that reason,” she said. “They also outlined several variations of governance structures that could be utilized in the diocese.”
Mother Teresa Catholic School makes use of one of those variations: a regional school model with five nearby parishes — St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Community in McKinney, St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Parish in McKinney, St. Jude Catholic Parish in Allen, Our Lady of Angels Catholic Parish, and St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Parish in Frisco — working in collaboration.

In 2018, Bishop Burns recognized the need for a regional school in Collin County to meet the needs of the growing population. In 2019, a feasibility study was conducted that confirmed the need for construction of a Catholic school in the area, leading to the diocese purchasing 26 acres in Collin County. The process, however, slowed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In 2023, the steering started to really get down to work again,” Hammel said, adding that the planning and research firm Meitler was commissioned again to update the demographics of the initial study. “Then in December, Bishop Burns approved the school’s name and charged us with making this happen.”

In January 2024, Meitler conducted a survey of families in the region to determine how many would be interested in enrolling their children if a school were built. During the meeting, Hammel discussed findings from that recent survey and outlined the scope and progress of the project.

“We knew from the prior studies that the demographics supported a school and that families wanted a school,” Hammel said, telling board members that there are three key points to keep in mind as the process moves forward. “We’re here for Catholic education, we know the growth warrants a new school, and there is market demand — the parents have told us they want this.”

According to studies commissioned by the diocese, the population of Collin County grew from 260,000 in the 1990s to 1.1 million by 2021 with much of that growth occurring in the cities of McKinney, Frisco, and Allen.

“We have about 205,000 Catholic families that make up the nine counties of the diocese,” Colbert said, adding that 23 percent of those families (46,257) live in the diocese’s northern deanery, which includes Collin County. Only 12 percent of the diocese’s Catholic schools are in the region. “We have three elementary schools in that area.”

Initially, Hammel said that depending on enrollment interest, Mother Teresa Catholic School could open to pre-K3 through fourth-grade students. A second phase could add classrooms for fifth- through eighth-grade students. The opening grade levels will be driven by families and construction phasing. At total build-out, the proposal could be that the school would have four sections of pre-K3 through eighth-grade classes capable of serving more than 800 students.

During the April 24 meeting, board members also reviewed proposed architect renderings, class size and tuition estimates, and various funding options, and discussed next steps in the process.

The board is expected to meet again May 23.

Cutline for featured photograph: Members of the Mother Teresa Catholic School board of directors including, from left, Robert Mackey, Tammie Jones, Scott Ripberger, Angel Gonzalez, Dr. Rebecca Hammel, Kathleen Frye, Fernando Vazquez, Cecilia Colbert, Father Rudy Garcia, Joe Walker, John Kraft, and Tom Reidy are pictured April 24 at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Parish in Allen. Board member Dave Bender is not pictured. (Michael Gresham/The Texas Catholic)