North Catholic High School has a date for its move to Cranberry.

The school, which has been in Pittsburgh's Troy Hill neighborhood since 1939, is planning to move to Butler County in time for the 2010-11 school year. The move is designed to better align the school with much of its student population, which has shifted over the years to the northern suburbs.

"It's really a demographic issue, that the North Side cannot continue to support a high school there," said Frank Orga, president of North Catholic.

When Mr. Orga attended North Catholic in the 1960s, he said, there were 13 feeder grade schools on the North Side. Now, there are only two, and a full third of North Catholic's students commute from the Seneca Valley School District in Butler County.

North Catholic's new campus in Cranberry will cost $21 million to $23 million, and the school must raise $10 million to be able to secure a bond issue for the remainder of the cost.

In March, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh started allowing schools to incorporate themselves, which also enables them to use debt financing for capital construction.

After a "silent campaigning" phase that kicked off last spring, North Catholic is confident it can raise the $10 million in time for a bond issue this spring.

The campaign will move into a public fund-raising phase after a kickoff event this month. While the full capital campaign board has not yet been named, members will include Steelers' owner Dan Rooney, state Sen. Jane Orie and WPXI sportscaster John Fedko.

Thus far, the campaign has also benefited from several in-kind donations. One anonymous alumnus will donate 20 acres off Route 228, while others have signed up to donate excavation services and glass for the new building.

The location is near St. Kilian Parish, which just opened the first new school in the Pittsburgh Diocese since the 1960s.

"This move will not only allow North Catholic and its traditions and heritage to survive, but will also bring secondary Catholic education to a community out there that is not served," said Mr. Orga.