MONROE — After spending three years in the basement of Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School will get its own home.

        The school's board of education last week purchased a 24.5-acre site in Liberty Township for $615,000. The land is on Yankee Road, between Princeton and Millikin roads.

        “Twenty-four acres is awesome for a grade school,” said Jeanne vonErden, a member of the board of education. “It gives us room for ball fields and a nature preserve.”

        Work has already begun to clear the land for the first phase of construction, said Chris Roll, chairman of the school board. It will consist of an 11,000-square-foot, seven-classroom structure that also has a cafeteria, chapel, restrooms, offices and a central gathering area. Phases two and three will include a second classroom wing with a gymnasium. School officials hope to move out of the church and into phase one during Thanksgiving break.

        “We're going to have a beautiful building,” Mr. Roll said. “It's going to be a very busy time for us to get our school relocated. The second phase will double the size of the school.”

        The site is centrally located among the four parishes where most of the students are members: St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Susanna, St. John's and Our Lady of Sorrows.

        “There's a lot of strong demand for a Catholic school in our area,” Mr. Roll said. “It's exciting to be able to take on a new private Catholic school.”

        The school opened with one all-day kindergarten class in 1998. Each year it added a grade. When classes resume in August there will be 82 students enrolled in kindergarten through third grade, Mrs. vonErden said. In 2002 school officials will add a fourth grade and probably a second section of kindergarten.

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