CHARLOTTE — Responding to demand, St. Patrick School added a Pre-K program for the coming school year, and it immediately filled to capacity, prompting the school to start a waitlist.
Registration for the Pre-K class of 20 students opened and closed in February, but parents are encouraged to get on the waitlist and to enroll now for a chance to get children into the program in future years.
“This program just extends that wonderful community we have already at St. Patrick and continues our tradition of excellence,” said Principal Nicholas Calametti.
“It’s exciting to see more people wanting to be part of our school community, and it feels like we’re on the right path for continued growth.”
Calametti said he first spoke with Catholic Schools officials last fall about possibly starting a Pre-K program in the 2025-26 school year but received approval to go ahead with a Fall 2024 start date thanks to growing interest.
School officials said the new program is a landmark as the St. Patrick School community looks ahead to its 95th anniversary in 2025. Established in 1930, St. Patrick School serves 228 students from kindergarten through fifth grade.
The new program will be based in a former art classroom, Calametti said, while art classes for students will be relocated to another room. To be eligible for the program, students must turn four years old by Aug. 31.
A full-time certified early childhood teacher and a full-time teacher’s assistant will be hired to lead the program. 
Calametti “St. Patrick School and Parish are instrumental in the legacy of Catholic education in our diocese, and the opening of this classroom is just a reflection of this continued legacy and history,” said Dr. Greg Monroe, superintendent of Catholic schools.
“We are so grateful for the principal, the pastor and the faculty there for helping us create another option to support families, because we want to ensure that families have as many opportunities as possible for Catholic education, no matter what age their children are.”
Other schools in the Diocese of Charlotte that currently offer Pre-K programs are: Asheville Catholic, Asheville; Immaculata, Hendersonville; Immaculate Heart of Mary, High Point; Our Lady of Grace, Greensboro; Our Lady of Mercy, Winston-Salem; Our Lady of the Assumption, Charlotte; Sacred Heart, Salisbury; St. Ann, Charlotte; St. Leo the Great, Winston-Salem; St. Michael, Gastonia; and St. Pius X, Greensboro.
— Christina Lee Knauss