Brother Martin will drop 7th grade, return to grades 8-12

     Brother Martin High School, which had added seventh grade in the 2010-11 school year, will return to the eighth-through-12th-grade structure as mapped out in the new strategic plan for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said its principal Greg Rando.
    "In the spirit of the plan, we were clear from Day 1 with Archbishop (Gregory) Aymond and the Office of Catholic Schools that we would comply," Rando said. "That was our intention. That means we will not have a seventh grade in the 2015-16 school year.
     "We didn't specifically ask for a waiver to continue our seventh grade, but if other schools would have been given time to comply with the grade-level structuring of the strategic plan, we asked for consideration from going from a full seventh grade to phasing it out completely. (Since other schools weren't given exemptions) We were asked to fully comply by the 2015-16 year, which we fully intend to do."
     Rando said, at first, it was disappointing to learn that Brother Martin would have to lose a seventh-grade program that has proven successful for its students.
     "But, to go back to our eighth-12th-grade structure is going to be fine," he said. "We found, though, that the seventh-grade program really helped our students prepare for eighth grade academically, socially and spiritually."
     No faculty members will be lost because of this transition, Rando added, since a number of our seventh-grade teachers came from the high school program. They will continue to teach at Brother Martin High School.
            "This strategic plan hits home; it's personal to us," Rando said. "But our parents and our faculty certainly understand what the archbishop is doing to create a family of schools with a structure so we can work with one another and continue to grow together.
            "From Day 1, we were in a position to comply with anything the archbishop and Office of Catholic Schools wanted us to do. If they felt it was best for Catholic schools, we were all in. Brother Martin High School is moving forward with the plan for the sake of our kids and our families."