St. Catherine School on Kauai is now launching a high school program, bringing the tally of secondary schools in the Honolulu-based Roman Catholic diocese to eight.

So far, three ninth-graders — graduates of the school’s established elementary and middle school program, which starts at the preschool level and continues through eighth grade — are enrolled in the new program on the Kapaa campus.

St. Catherine is among more than 40 Catholic schools nationwide, most of which are in rural communities too small to support a traditional brick-and-mortar high school, partnering with the Archdiocese of Miami Virtual Catholic School.

Much of the core curriculum, such as math, science, history, English, foreign languages and theology, is taught online by teachers in Florida.

The St. Catherine freshmen work on computers provided by the school Mondays through Thursdays, with Maria Ballesteros, director of the high school program, sitting nearby to supervise.

“I am here in the classroom to set up a welcoming learning environment, to be a guide or coach to the students, to keep them on schedule and answer any questions they have,” Ballesteros said in an email. “I can answer some questions immediately and certainly can provide extra resources for learning the subject material if needed.”

Ballesteros sets up the daily class schedules and helps coordinate enrichment classes and extracurricular activities on campus. She is also responsible for facilitating communication between school administrators and parents on Kauai and the Florida staff.

The new program, which got underway July 25, is “beginning very well,” said Ballesteros, who has 20 years of experience home-schooling her own children. There is, however, one unavoidable challenge: getting used to the six-hour time difference.

“When we start at 8 a.m. here, it is 2 p.m. in Miami,” she said. Florida teachers typically respond to questions within a few hours by way of email and other virtual avenues such as Google Voice or Skype.

In addition, Ballesteros said, “When we get to school in the morning and log in, there are often answers ready for us from the questions of the day before. … The teachers are flexible and know that being part of an online school requires nonregular hours when the students are not in the same time zone.”

On Fridays the ninth-graders join St. Catherine middle school students for noncore classes, such as art, physical education and music. They also attend Mass and conduct service projects with the younger students, Ballesteros said, describing the overall high school curriculum as a “blended learning program.”

The Archdiocese of Miami has tailored St. Catherine high school graduation requirements to meet Hawaii Department of Education requirements. Course credits are transferable, and students will earn a fully accredited diploma. The program also has a full-time counselor to help students with college and career planning.

Except for a short time in the 1990s, Ballesteros said, there was no Catholic high school on Kauai because it wasn’t financially feasible, though there are now three public high schools on the Garden Isle.

According to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, the state’s other Catholic high schools include Damien Memorial School, Maryknoll High School, Sacred Hearts Academy, Saint Francis School and Saint Louis School on Oahu; St. Joseph Junior-Senior High School on Hawaii island; and St. Anthony Junior-Senior High School on Maui.

Several public charter schools in the islands offer courses through online distance learning systems. In addition, the state DOE offers the Hawaii Virtual Learning Network, through which students can take online courses via an E-School Program, and educators can access development courses through Project Inspire.

More information about St. Catherine School’s high school program is available online at adomvirtual.com.