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| At St. Joseph School in Baraboo, teacher Molly Koch works with student Sima Tollaksen. The school is re-establishing middle school grades over the next three years. (Catholic Herald photo/Cathy Lins) | ||
BARABOO — St. Joseph Catholic School is re-establishing its middle school program and has started open enrollment.
During each of the next three years, the school will add one grade level, starting with a sixth-grade class next school year and seventh- and eighth-grade classes added in the two subsequent years.
The school currently offers a daycare, four-year-old kindergarten (4K), and kindergarten through fifth-grade classes. In 4K through fifth grades, the school has a total enrollment of 143 students.
History of offering middle school classes
According to Dan Fitzpatrick, parish director of operations, “Our school has a long history of offering education to middle school students.”
Principal Denise Brinker said the school once offered middle school classes but did away with seventh and eighth grades in the early 1990s. St. Joseph offered a sixth-grade class until 2006.
Fitzpatrick indicated that the initial decision to discontinue the middle school was made when the public school revamped its middle school and there was a dip in enrollment.
“Both our school and pre-school are a ministry of our parish,” Fitzpatrick said.
Response to interest
This is something people have been pushing to re-establish for some time. “When Fr. Jay Poster (pastor at St. Joseph) announced the plan this past summer at Masses, parish members applauded the news,” said Fitzpatrick.
Interest in middle school classes has come from within the school and from the general community, Brinker said. “A lot of parents have been asking for it. And last year when we were running our enrollment, we had people calling from the outside asking if we had sixth grade.”
Fitzpatrick indicated that as a staff, they “needed to make a commitment to the parents that it would happen before they could expect parents to make a commitment to St. Joseph’s to enroll their children in the middle school classes.”
The school has been working with the diocese on strategic planning for facilities, staffing, and programming.
Building from the bottom up
They both admit it’s difficult to predict what the size of the new sixth-grade class will be. But Brinker says, “We’ve built from the bottom up.”
She explained that their early childhood programs total about 25 students, and many of those students go on to the 4K and elementary grades.
“Currently our infant room and two-year-old and three-year-old preschool programs are full and are running waiting lists,” she said. There currently are 24 students in the third grade and 14 students in the fourth and fifth grades.
The school plans to add additional students while accommodating current students as they advance to middle school.
“Our plan is if we can retain 50 percent of the current fifth grade, that’s a win for us,” Fitzpatrick said.
Sixth-grade students will be combined with fifth-grade students until the classroom maximum of 28 is reached. At that point, the classes will be split into individual fifth- and sixth-grade classes, each with a full-time teacher.
Educating the whole child
When discussing their programming, Brinker stated, “We look at the child as a whole. We focus on working in partnership with parents to focus on the values and morals important to us.”
The school structure emphasizes and supports a Catholic identity. The school provides an education based on religious beliefs and values, enabling students to grow in their understanding of themselves, their relationship with God, and their relationship with others.
Academic excellence
St. Joseph School has a long history of promoting academic excellence. Brinker indicated, “Graduates of St. Joseph School are praised by their middle school and high school teachers for their study skills, writing skills, topical knowledge, and attention to their studies.”
Classes at St. Joseph School consistently score at or above grade level in all subjects on Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) standardized tests.
Unique experience
The staff looked at what would make the middle school experience at St. Joseph’s unique while keeping it part of the whole school community.
As part of their commitment to families and the students, the school is establishing the following steps:
• The tuition rate of $2,250 per year will be locked in for all three years for students entering sixth grade this next year. If tuition assistance is needed, the school has a consistently-funded assistance fund and has been able to assist each family who has asked. The school also offers families with three or more children in their school a cost break.
• Each sixth-grade student will receive an iPad Air to use throughout middle school. They then get to keep the devices upon completion of the eighth grade. The school has already established school-wide WiFi and Smart Board technology.
• Boys’ and girls’ sport teams are being organized, with entry into organized league competition.
• A modified block scheduling system will be used. Courses will include Advanced Technology, Spanish, Food and Consumer Science, and Health. Classrooms for middle school will be clustered in their own section of the building.
• A Middle School Student Council will form and have input in shaping the middle school experience.
• As part of the community environment, students will continue to participate in “Family Activities” (cross-age learning groups made up of two-year-olds to eighth graders) that work together on projects throughout the seasons of the liturgical and school year. The process helps students discuss and live out the values upon which their education is based. They are encouraged to assume leadership roles.
As he reflected on process, Father Poster said, “I’m very excited about our phasing-in of the middle school and the opportunity it offers for our students and their families. I am confident of the vision of our principal, Denise Brinker, and our director of operations, Dan Fitzpatrick, and of the abilities of our talented and dedicated teachers and staff.”
Families interested in enrollment or more information can call the school at 608-356-3083 or complete registration online at www.stjosephbaraboo.org/registrationschool.html