The 50 seventh and eighth graders are officially CJ students this upcoming school year, following the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association and CJ’s Board of Trustees approving a charter change.
Previously, the seventh and eighth grade OLR students were bused between OLR and CJ daily. The change means that they will no longer need to do that, and OLR students will have more access to campus resources including the gymnasium, band room, and STEMM labs.
“This is an exciting next step in our partnership with OLR and a wonderful opportunity to welcome even more students into the CJ family,” said Dan Meixner, CJ president. “It’s a blessing that builds on years of collaboration.”
Meixner said there are no current plans to accept middle school students beyond the OLR students, but there could be an expansion in the future.
“Should our experience and outcomes for our middle school students demonstrate the kind of progress we think is likely, we believe that the community may want us to consider if there are additional ways that CJ could further support the growth of Catholic education in our community,” Meixner said.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
CJ officials said six staff members will support the CJ middle school, including two current OLR teachers.
“Several teachers and staff members worked with both middle school and high school students as part of the continued partnership,” said Greg Mueller, CJ principal.
OLR assistant principal Jacki Loffer said the academic and community success of the partnership has helped OLR students achieve academic readiness.
“The communication between the two schools, the shared expectations, and the opportunity to learn from content-area teachers has increased the number of placements of OLR students into college prep and honors courses at the high school level, where they were once placed into general education courses,” Loffer said. “Because of the partnership, OLR students are better prepared for these courses and have shown success.”
CJ middle school students are expected to participate in school traditions such as Catholic Schools Week, Spirit Week and the Lenten Mission Drive. They will attend religion classes, prepare for Confirmation, a Catholic sacrament usually received between ages 12 and 15, and engage in regular Mass and service opportunities, CJ officials said in a statement.
CJ said enrichment opportunities for the seventh and eighth grade students will include social-emotional learning via the University of Dayton’s ECHO initiative, additional English and math support and weekly art classes at K12 Gallery.
The middle school students say they are excited, too.
“I feel like we’re making history,” said Neema Apendeki, a current seventh grader. “It’s a big opportunity to be part of the first eighth-grade class at CJ.”
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