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Twenty years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast with Category 5 winds reaching a sustained rate of 175 miles per hour accompanied by damaging flooding. Especially hard hit was the city of New Orleans when the levees were breached, causing flooding to 80% of New Orleans and resulting in a mandatory mass evacuation of the city. Realizing that the damage was so extensive it would result in a very long-term recovery situation, many residents left Louisiana to stay with relatives or planned to relocate to other areas of the country to secure a place to live, gain employment, and enroll their children in a school. One of the major areas for relocation was Atlanta.

With a large Catholic population in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, parents looked to Catholic schools and in particular St. Pius X for their children. Faced with numerous inquiries, the school decided to assist these families in need, especially those seeking to continue their Catholic education. What we did not realize at the time was the demands that this would place on the school as almost all the displaced students had no school records, no records of any sort to share with us.

And this is where the true mission and culture of the entire St. Pius Family was revealed. Our first step was to approach the archdiocese with our plan to accept the displaced students and inquire about the possibility of financial assistance. The archdiocese under the leadership of Archbishop Wilton Gregory made the decision not to charge tuition for those students, a true gift to those unfortunate families.

Led by the Dean of Academics, Ruth McCollough, the Counseling Department, and the Department Chairs began a process to interview each family to get students placed in the right classes. At the same time, all four of our parent’s organizations: the Mother’s Club, Home and School, SPAS and the Athletic Association all accepted the responsibility to help the students in whatever was needed. The Mothers Club took on the task of providing uniforms for all the accepted students, knowing many left their homes with almost nothing. The used uniform inventory was a true blessing as this provided us with the ability to get them into uniforms, a perfect gift for many. Additionally, the Mother’s Club and Home and School Association ensured that lunches and books for those students were also provided. The Athletic Association made an effort to assist those that wanted to participate in
athletics by approaching the Georgia High School Association for temporary eligibility, a task that was approved.

Additionally, when our parents heard about the assistance the school provided, numerous families brought in extra uniform pieces, money, food for the families to take home, even clothing for the adults, and some parents even helped the families find places to live, all creating an encompassing culture of love, care and support.

Perhaps the biggest shock and surprise to the entire faculty was the reality that even though many had matriculated from Catholic Schools, they had a very hard time adjusting to the rigor and demands of our curriculum. This necessitated a new plan to assist these students, and the faculty went “above and beyond” in their assistance. Teachers arrived exceptionally early to help students before school, many gave up their lunch periods to tutor students, and most stayed very late each afternoon to continue to support their needs.

In total, we took in 60 Katrina students and provided all the necessary support these young people needed to be successful. Not all stayed at SPX; some returned to New Orleans when possible. I recall that only about two or three remained to graduate from SPX. Reflecting back, twenty years later, I still believe it was one of the greatest Works of Mercy that one could ever experience, an outpouring of who we were as a school and as individuals. One of the SPX family's finest moments and a most memorable event in the history of this fine school.

Written by: Steve Spellman