The Morning Sentinel

It's been more than two decades since the St. John's Regional Catholic School has had middle school-aged students in its classrooms.

February 28

St. John's adds sixth grade, looks to future

Catholic school in Winslow tries to boost enrollment

By Scott Monroe smonroe@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WINSLOW -- It's been more than two decades since the St. John's Regional Catholic School has had middle school-aged students in its classrooms.

That's set to change this fall, when the Catholic school adds back a sixth-grade class to its ranks.

The decision to add another grade at St. John's highlights the school's effort to rebound following recent years of declining enrollment. At the school's peak, St. John's had more than 300 students and offered classes in kindergarten through grade 8.

The Rev. Phil Tracy, administrator of the Corpus Christi Parish, which oversees the school and adjacent church, said the addition of sixth grade could be a step toward offering seventh and eighth grades again if enrollment numbers increase, but that would be a much larger undertaking still several years away.

"We're hoping for strong, sustained growth," Tracy said. "Our hope is by adding a sixth grade, parents will be less concerned about transitions (to middle schools). Adding another year gives us the opportunity to explore what it is we do well."

Tracy said that when St. John's officials presented their plans to start a sixth grade to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, church officials' reaction was, "wow, that's something really positive happening in the greater Waterville area."

The St. John's parish was officially established in 1926 and a parochial school opened two years later. Classes at the school opened with an enrollment of 125 students in grades 2 to 8, with three teachers. In 1939, additions were made to the church and school, providing more classrooms.

But in the late 1980s, the school stopped offering its middle-school level classes, including sixth grade, as student numbers decreased and there were other middle school options for students.

Now, the church and school remain on the original grounds, with enrollment in pre-school and kindergarten through grade 5.

"It was going in the wrong direction, in all honesty, for a variety of reasons," Tracy said, referring to school enrollment. "About four years ago it got down to the sixties."

Now, the school has 84 students. School officials said they are seeing enrollment slowly bounce back, with the addition of 20 students in the last three years, a rarity for Catholic schools in the state, Tracy said. St. John's has 24 employees including full- and part-time teachers and other staff.

St. John's operations are funded through a combination of student tuition, fundraisers and, primarily, funding from the Catholic parish.

Tuition is $2,150 a year for a family's first child if they are registered with a Catholic parish. For non-affiliated Catholics, tuition is $3,800 for a family's first child. Tuition is less for subsequent children in the same family.

Tracy said the school is trying to do a better job of getting the message out that the school is not just for Winslow students and not just Catholics.

"All students were always welcomed, but the perception was it was more for people on this side of the river," Tracy said. "We're not a private school; we're a Catholic school. We just expose them to faith."

Principal Valerie Wheeler said St. John's will not need additional staff to accommodate a sixth grade, as existing teachers will handle the classes using their talents in different subjects. One part-time teacher's hours will be expanded.

Fifth-grade teacher Rhonda Kimball said there would be some overlap in fifth- and sixth-grade classes, but most will be separate.

"We did not want to water down our program at all," Kimball said.

A benefit of adding the sixth-grade class, Wheeler said, is it allows students "another year to explore and it helps them instill leadership; to be leaders to the younger kids."

It would also put St. John's on par with the Mount Merici School in Waterville, a private Catholic school that offers instruction through grade 6.

St. John's has 15 Dell laptops in its computer lab and offers French starting in kindergarten.

"There may be parents who are looking for alternatives," Tracy said. "We see this as a service."

Sarah Sirois, who teaches French, computers, math and music at St. John's, said the teachers are looking forward to offering more to students with sixth-grade instruction.

"We really believe in what we offer," she said.

Scott Monroe -- 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com