Saturday, July 26, 2014
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Catholic education is staying in the township as Lumen Christi Catholic Schools opens St. Joseph Elementary for preschool programming.
The new Early Childhood Learning Center at St. Joseph, 4565 New Road, is the fourth to join the Lumen Christi network.
Lumen Christi runs the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown’s school system for kindergarten through eighth-grade schools.
Kitty Brown, marketing director for Lumen Christi, said they had begun the groundwork for another ECLC at St. Joseph last year, but lacked the funding.
“Once the decision was made to close SJIHM [St. Joseph/Immaculate Heart of Mary was a combined elementary school], an anonymous donor surfaced who wanted to try to keep a Catholic-education presence in Austintown,” Brown explained.
The donor, as well as St. Joseph’s empty building, combined to speed up the process.
“We took the existing building and added what we needed to. Having that initial school there allowed us to move very quickly to open this fall,” Brown said.
The curriculum and costs will be the same as Lumen Christi’s other ECLCs operating in the area. Those are Holy Family in Poland, St. Luke in Boardman, and St. Christine in Youngstown.
St. Joseph’s will feature seven programs for various ages and class times.
The oldest section, for 41/2- to 6-year-olds, is transitional kindergarten. That runs 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at a cost of $2,225, or $225 a month for 10 months, according to the website.
There also is a $35 nonrefundable registration fee and a $60 supply fee. There is free registration until Aug. 30.
Ann St. George , who is principal of the ECLC and oversees the St. Luke and Holy Family sites, said they focus on getting kids ready for kindergarten emotionally, socially and academically.
She talked about how technology has become a bigger part of the curriculum since Holy Family and St. Luke opened their ECLC’s in 2011 and continue to change the curriculum.
Brown said they are hoping to not only draw students from Austintown, but other surrounding areas such as North Jackson and Mineral Ridge.
St. George talked about St. Christine’s filling their 22-student capacity in their three-day, 3-year-old pre-kindergarten program this upcoming school year allowing those children to now go to St. Joseph.
“I think that number tells you that there is a need in that area. That’s not too far from St. Joe’s,” she said. “That was a good indicator that there is a need for another preschool on the West Side.”
Brown said she thinks word is spreading through social media about the new ECLC.
St. George said, “We’re hoping for three teachers to start [and] three assistants. That’s our goal for the first year, but with all the calls we’re getting, we may need to add another classroom for the second year.”
Brown acknowledged the tough situation of closing SJIHM weeks ago, but she said the community response has been “enthusiastic of the idea to have a new Catholic school in the area.”
The recently named director of St. Joseph ECLC is Pam Juda, who was a teacher at SJIHM. Brown and St. George said a few staff members from the ECLC’s have transferred to St. Joseph because they are parishioners or members of that community.
For information on the new programs offered at St. Joseph, call 330-782-4060. There also will be an open house for parents at St. Joseph from noon to 2 p.m. Aug. 24.
Brown hopes the building will be finished by then for tours and information on the curriculum. St. George said the plan is to open St. Joseph on Sept. 8.