Schools to implement uniform grade-level structure

   The reality of the strategic plan for the future of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, released in May 2013, hit home in many schools Jan. 14 when those that asked for an exemption to the grade-level structure of the plan received word that exceptions would not be granted.
    “Just about every school that did not conform with the grade-level structure mandated by the strategic plan asked for some sort of waiver,” said Dr. Jan Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic schools.
 
   The strategic plan, developed from years’-long consultative study by the Center for the Advancement of Catholic Education at The Catholic University of America (CUA) and input from local pastors, school administrators, teachers and parents over the past few years, called for action plans in specific areas, including academics, governance, grade-level structure, facilities and marketing.
 
   The Office of Catholic Schools and Archbishop Gregory Aymond decided it was in the best interest of the entire school system to follow the recommendation of the study and establish uniform grades – where elementary would offer pre-kindergarten through seventh grade and high schools would incorporate eighth through 12th grade. Schools have until the 2015-16 school year to be in compliance, although those adding or removing more than one grade can take a year for each affected grade.
    The only exception made was for schools that didn’t have a preschool program and could not fit it on their campus.
Biggest impact on schools
    Lancaster knows that changing the grade-level structure of schools is the element of the plan with the biggest impact on archdiocesan schools. But data from the independent CUA study and the school system confirmed change was warranted. What it boiled down to was how individual school decisions were impacting “the whole family of schools,” Lancaster said. “We concurred with the study that it was the best thing.”
Uniform experience for all
    What the numbers showed was that 700 students remained in eighth grade at the elementary level, and approximately 2,300 were attending eighth grade at the high school level.
    In talking with parents and schools, the consensus was that when students leave elementary school at the end of seventh grade to attend high school for eighth grade, it is difficult for the remaining students to get that full experience (in eighth grade) at the elementary level due to fewer children (and fewer extracurriculars and resources). The plan affords a uniform and natural transition into high school.
    “Now, all eighth graders can move as a class,” Lancaster said. “We can go back to having a true graduating class in grammar school. We wanted to strengthen our family of Catholic schools and allow them to work more cooperatively for the betterment of children.”
    The biggest hurdle from the decision is financially helping the parents who had planned to keep their child in eighth grade at the elementary level since high school tuition is higher. Lancaster said her office has been in conversation with high school principals for suggestions on the financial end so that every student wanting to attend eighth grade at a Catholic high school can.
    “The Office of Catholic Schools is looking at finances,” Lancaster said. “We have many ideas that we are looking at to make it affordable for that eighth-grade year, but nothing has been finalized.”
What’s the buzz at schools
    Lancaster said the decision wasn’t a surprise to Catholic schools, since throughout the process, they had been informed about the study recommendations. She said once the official decision was made on grade-level structuring, she or a representative of the Office of Catholic Schools also met directly with schools. Everyone agreed to comply with the change.
    “All of the schools are working to make it work,” Lancaster said. “I think they are because this has been such a transparent process.”
    Because there were different grade configurations at schools, the decisions each school made to conform were different. The schools most affected were Christian Brothers (5th-7th grade), St. Augustine (6th-12th grade), Holy Cross (5th-12th grade) and St. Benedict the Moor (prekindergarten to fourth grade). Some will expand into kindergarten and possibly look for alternate campuses to house the lower grades.
    Brother Martin, also affected by the decision, will lose a successful seventh-grade program that was added in the 2010-11 school year. While principal Greg Rando expressed initial disappointment over the decision, he, like other principals and presidents in the same boat, was willing to comply for the sake of all students and families.
    “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.    Lancaster stressed that the strategic plan was a well-thought plan based on quantitative and qualitative data that was then studied and discussed for a year by the Office of Catholic Schools to determine what was best for the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
    While she knows it will be challenging in the short-term, she said it is in the best interest for the future of local Catholic education. Her office will address all schools concerns of the plan through April 30.
    “We did due diligence, and it validated that this was the way we had to move,” Lancaster said. “There is one goal – we are a family of Catholic schools. Catholic schools are a ministry, and it’s so very important. The Catholic piece is No. 1; it’s what we do, the purpose of our mission. And, that’s not going to change.”
    Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org.