The new regional Catholic high school in western Massachusetts will open at a temporary campus next August.
Holyoke Catholic and Cathedral High School will merge to become Pope Francis High School next August at a temporary campus in Chicopee, while a new $50 million high school is built in Springfield.
That’s contrary to the plan, announced earlier this year by diocesan education consultant Paul Gagliarducci to maintain separate sites until the new building opened in 2018.
"The goal is in the fall of 2016, we become Pope Francis High School under one umbrella at two sites," Gagliarducci said last June when plans were announced to build the new high school in Springfield.
Officials say the Cathedral site will be closed because enrollment targets have not been met.
Cathedral has operated in a former elementary school in Wilbraham since the June 2011 tornado destroyed the Springfield campus.
