BREAKING NEW GROUND Msgr. Keiran McHugh, director of the Catholic Academy of Sussex County and president of St. Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta, and Bishop Serratelli prepare to turn over ceremonial shovels filled with soil at the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Pope John XXIII Middle School in Sparta on June 6. The 22,000-square foot middle school will be part of the Catholic Academy of Sussex County and a first-of-its-kind university style campus model at Pope John High School and Rev. Brown Memorial School.
CLIFTON This will be an exciting year for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Paterson as students start a new year of learning, reconnecting, making new friends, praying and freely expressing their faith in the classroom every day.
Two schools in the Diocese will be having especially exciting new experiences and environments. In Madison, St. Vincent Martyr School is opening its doors to its $2 million, two-story addition as enrollment continues to grow. In Sparta, the new St. Pope John XXIII Middle School is being built. It is a $4.5 million, two-story school, which will open in November to students in grades 5, 6, and 7.
The groundbreakings of these two new buildings took place during last school year. St. Vincent broke ground on Jan. 4, the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Catholic school system in the U.S. St. Pope John XXIII Middle School held its groundbreaking on June 6.
Steady growth in enrollment in Madison
When students at St. Vincent Martyr School in Madison arrive for the first day of school Sept. 7, they will be amazed at what they see, according to Sister of Charity Noreen Holly, principal. “The new addition is beyond our imagination. You have to see it to believe to believe this has actually happened,” she told The Beacon.
The expansion of St. Vincent Martyr in Madison was needed to provide space for the upper-grade population that has grown in recent years since the re-establishment of the middle school grades several years ago. Six more classrooms are housed in the new addition, which includes a state-of-the-art science room, and a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) room for 21st century learning. The kitchen was refurbished and some renovation work was also done such as painting the interior of the building.
Sister Noreen said, “It’s a new year for us. We had one classroom that was under the stage and no windows. Now, the class has three huge windows. It’s very bright.”
To make this expansion project possible, the parish and school communities gave generously along with the Home and School Association, which gave seed money to start the project.
Sister Noreen attributes the growth at the school to Msgr. George Hundt, pastor of St. Vincent’s. “This is really because of Msgr. George who reinstated the middle school grades. He didn’t just dream it. He made it happen.”
Msgr. Hundt will very much be involved with the students again this school year. The pastor will be teaching religion to the eighth-grade class. Along with Msgr. Hundt, there are three Sisters of Charity on staff along with the lay staff. The school will educate 465 students with 118 of those students in the middle school (grades 6, 7, 8).
In addition to Madison, students attending St. Vincent’s come from many other towns including East Hanover, Chatham, Florham Park, Morristown and Summit.
The expansion of St. Vincent’s began in 2009 when the school re-opened the sixth grade, followed by the re-establishment of its seventh and eighth grades in 2010. New teachers were hired, who put in place interdisciplinary approaches and state-of-the-art technology, all designed to challenge today’s students. St. Vincent’s made room on its lower level for seventh-grade homeroom, an eighth-grade homeroom, an art and music room and a science lab. Originally, the school had closed the middle school grades in the early 1990s, due to a drop in enrollment.
The school expansion is just one part of the renovations taking place at St. Vincent Martyr Parish. Last May, Bishop Serratelli helped break ground on a renovation project to the interior of the 111-year-old stone Gothic Revival church, designed to improve the worship experience of its parishioners and improve handicapped accessibility to the building. These two renovation projects — and many other initiatives are part of the parish’s ongoing “Envision: Planning Our Parish Future,” a comprehensive, results-driven planning process that already has inspired the parish to expand its reach in spreading the “Good News.”
The future of Catholic education is very bright at St. Vincent’s, according to Sister Noreen. “The parents are full force behind us,” she said. “While many will look at the school and be in awe, this is all for the children who will learn here and the teachers who will teach here. We hope to do everything for the glory and honor of God.”
New middle school in Sussex County coincides with Diocese’s commitment to Catholic school education
When students enrolled at St. Pope John XXIII Middle School in Sparta enter their new school building this November, they can feel a sense of pride knowing they will be the first class ever to attend the diocese’s newest school.
The building of the new middle school is part of the Diocese’s comprehensive strategic repositioning plan for the long-term viability and vitality of Catholic education in Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties.
The 22,000-square-foot middle school will become part of the Catholic Academy of Sussex County and a first-of-its kind university style campus model at St. Pope John XXIII Regional High School and Rev. George A. Brown Memorial School in Sparta. Also, the diocesan plan — which maps out a way to best provide continued and exemplary Catholic education to its students in a fiscally responsible manner — consolidated three Sussex County Catholic elementary schools — Immaculate Conception Regional School, Franklin; St. Joseph Regional School, Newton and St. Michael School, Netcong — into the Pope John campus for the upcoming academic year.
At the groundbreaking last June, Msgr. Keiran McHugh, director of the Catholic Academy of Sussex County, said, the project is “a milestone for Catholic education in Sussex County and its growth for decades to come. We are taking an important leap of faith to ensure Catholic education in Sussex County. We have more work to do and many more miles to travel. Our focus must be providing top-notch quality Catholic education for the people of Sussex County. We ask God’s blessings on our work ahead. Let’s not be afraid but have the courage to stay the course.”
The existing Rev. Brown School will educate pre-k through fourth-graders while the new middle school will serve fifth- through seventh- graders. The existing high school, which has been thriving, will continue to educate students in grades 8-12. The facilities will provide enough space for all students from their sending districts and more. The middle school has been made possible through financial support from both the Diocese and the Pope John XXIII Endowment Fund — both of which have made $1 million commitments to this project.
The middle school will house an administrative suite and a large gathering space near the entrance, 12 regular classrooms and four specialty classrooms for music, art, science and robotics.
With school opening today, almost 300 middle school students will start classes in the high school until they can enter their new school in November.