St. Michael Catholic School Takes Leap of Faith, Adds Seventh and Eighth Grades

While other Catholic schools, and, indeed, parishes struggle with declining numbers, St. Michael’s oldest educational institution is adapting by creating a middle school.

 When news broke about the St. Michael Catholic School’s decision to add seventh grade in the fall of this year and eighth grade in fall 2012, there was one resounding question.

Where?

The school operates in the same home it has for decades, at the intersection of Minnesota Highway 241 and Wright County Road 19 in downtown St. Michael. It remodeled in 2008, but didn’t really add more than a couple classrooms.

So where are they going to put two new grades, expanding the school from K-6 to K-8?

“We’ll adapt,” said Jennifer Haller, principal of the school. “There are a lot of moving parts and pieces to the puzzle, but the feeling is that now is the right time to make this happen.”

The answer lies in numbers. After this year’s kindergarten moves into first grade and the 2011 kindergarten class comes in, there will be a decline in school-aged students.

With the school currently housing 315 students (as of March 10), parish staff has seen that number dropping to below 300 in the near future, and closer to 275 a few years down the line.

How do you stem the tide? Keep the kids you have in your building a little bit longer.

“We’re just trhilled,” said Justine Folkstad, a mother of a sixth-grader who was still feeling “anxiety” about moving out of the Catholic school and to a new school next year. “We really weren’t sure what the answer was going to be. Now we have the decision in front of us. She can stay. The truth is we never realized how much we really cared about the school, the teachers and the people there until we got to this point where it was almost time to leave.”

The timing isn’t the greatest, Haller said, in terms of academic planning. But adding the two grades over two years, instead of both at once, will help. What has also helped is the willingness and excitement of her current fifth and sixth grade teachers, as the school will now adapt to a middle school model for those two grades, as well as the new sections.

“They’ll be able to teach to their specialties. And we have several teachers in the building already who are licensed to teach at the middle school level. Really, this isn’t a move we could make without the full support of our staff. And to see them so excited about this is a real blessing for us,” Haller said.

The staff is working with Haller to lay out a curriculum for grades five through eight. She has also contacted to notify them about the expansion of the Catholic school and to work to coordinate curriculum efforts.

“STMA works very closely with St. Michael Catholic Schools. We are working on their key needs related to the new schedule, including plans for students to participate in band and sports,” said Superintendent Elect Jim Behle.

The move is actually a bit of a reprieve for St. Michael middle schools, which are starting to feel a space crunch at some grade levels and will see another bulge in about five years when this year’s kindergarten class gets to that level.

“I think adding a middle school here creates another option, another point of entry for that student who is looking to stay in a smaller environment,” Haller said. “Maybe they do K-5 with the public school and then come to us for six, seven and eight, then rejoin with public school at the high school. That’s something new we can offer.”

As for the answer as to where? Right now, it looks as the main floor’s south wing and the entire lower level will house two sections of grades five through eight. Additional space might be found at an additional building, as well. Haller is looking at a nearby property to house a possible preschool and the Catholic school’s library.

“It’s a work in progress. We won’t be able to offer three sections of any grade any longer, so there are some sacrifices,” Haller said.

The response so far from current students and families has been overwhelmingly positive. Of the 35 sixth-graders, 20 are signed up (as of March 11) for seventh grade in 2011.

Parent Chris Busch, who put two students through the Catholic school and has one child in third grade, has been involved in the expansion discussion since 2005. Now is the right time, he said, to grow.

“We have a lot of the right things in the right place. We have the right leadership in Jenny. We have a parish that is in a good position for this. And we can expand and change that experience for our older kids without sacrificing any of the experience for our younger kids, keeping that Catholic education ingredient all the way through,” he said.

Mona Kramer, whose son is also in sixth grade, said her middle child will now have the chance to attend school with his little sister.

“That’s something none of my kids have ever done. They’ve never been at the same building. So that will be a new experience and a great thing. When I found out my son could stay for two more years, I was almost in tears. I was so happy.”