New catholic elementary school location opens in Rapid City - KOTA Territory News

"It's just kind of a closer community, a small town feel," said mother of four Angela Wagner.

The small town feeling is something students at Saint Elizabeth Seton Elementary School have been missing the past few years. "In our previous facility we were getting very full," said Principal Colleen Lecy. "We were sharing space with middle school and we had divided classrooms and were really running out of room."

Terra Sancta means holy land.  For students, parents, and teachers it's so much more. On about 200 acres located at the former St. Martin's monastery off Sturgis Road, there is room for more growth. "With this increased enrollment this was a great opportunity not only for our elementary school students, but it's created an opportunity for growth at our middle school and high school," said Superintendent Barb Honeycutt.  It is growth that Honeycutt says will be in numbers of students as well as academic classes and space.

"We teach values, we teach some moral training, ethics, we work with how we're called to be good holy people in addition to using the blessings God's given us with our minds," said Lecy.

Parents say there is more than one reason to send their children to catholic school, they like that it's like a community.  "You know everybody in the school and you know all the classmates you know all the families you get to know everyone a little better," said Wagner.

There are 750 students in the Rapid City in the catholic school system, and while most students are catholic, some are not. "And we welcome them they know we're a catholic school and we don't change our teachings or beliefs because they join us," said Lecy.

"It's just, it's been a gift," said Honeycutt.