Soon to be more than a high school

Hendricken to add 8th grade starting next year

Posted 9/25/14

By next year at this time, Hendricken won’t be just a high school. The school will also have an eighth-grade class numbering 40 to 45 students.

And the students won’t be the average …

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Soon to be more than a high school

Hendricken to add 8th grade starting next year

Posted

By next year at this time, Hendricken won’t be just a high school. The school will also have an eighth-grade class numbering 40 to 45 students.

And the students won’t be the average eighth-grader, either.

Hendricken is seeking to recruit boys looking for academic challenges while gaining a Catholic education. The school has a name for this new cohort – the SELECT Honors Institute.

A Hendricken junior high school is a concept the school and the Diocesan Catholic Schools Office have talked about for years. And at one point when student enrollment was at a low at St. Kevin School, Hendricken was urged to transform St. Kevin into a middle school. That plan, however, wasn’t implemented, and enrollment at St. Kevin has since grown.

But Hendricken President John Jackson and Principal Jay Brennan see the need for expanding the school’s enrollment to include eighth-graders, as well as what that can do for those students and the school.

The eighth-graders will have their own home classroom, yet have access to virtually all of the school’s programs with the exception of high school athletics. Rather, they would play against teams of middle school students statewide.

In an interview Tuesday, Jackson and Brennan said the integration of eighth-graders would be accomplished without adding classroom space or faculty. The current junior and senior classes are especially large, but the overall school enrollment won’t be dramatically impacted as those classes will be graduating out of the system. Jackson is also looking to pare back its foreign student population, which currently stands at 41. Most of these students are from China and are looking to pursue their college education in this country.

Thinking back to early consideration of incorporating junior high school students, Jackson said the “genesis was not to boost enrollment.”

In fact, whether a junior high program at Hendricken would pull students out of other parochial schools – most of which offer kindergarten through eighth grade – was a concern. In response, Hendricken cannot accept more than two eighth-graders from any parish school. Also, there is no plan to broaden the program to sixth- and seventh-graders, as is the case in some other Catholic schools.

“They’re our feeder schools [the parish schools] and we want them to do better,” said Brennan.

Further, Jackson notes that 67 percent of Hendricken students came to the school from public schools, and he expects that number would remain consistent when it comes to eighth-graders. More likely to be a deterrent to an exodus from parish schools is the Hendricken tuition and eligibility requirements. Jackson put the eighth-grade tuition at $12,500, or more than twice that of most parish schools.

Hendricken has created a rigorous set of selection criteria for the Institute, including minimum scores on the SELECT Entrance Exam, which will be offered Saturday, Dec. 6, at the school.

With announcement of the eighth grade on the school website last week and through word of mouth, Jackson estimated the school has already had about two-dozen inquiries about the program. He expects there will be more at the school’s two fall open houses and at a special session to address the program on Nov. 19.

What Jackson sees as exciting for motivated students is the chance to have access to a wide range of opportunities, from traditional studies in history, mathematics, English and American studies to filmmaking, music and the performing arts. As he sees it, students have the chance to immerse themselves in a five-year program in a particular subject area or sample courses of study from many diverse areas.

And might the incoming eighth-graders be on the bottom of the totem pole?

“The older kids take care of the freshmen,” Brennan said, and he expects it will be no different with the eighth-graders.

Jackson said a goal of the school is “to empower kids,” and to do that students are given the responsibility of planning and working on school projects.

“They’re not just marching along,” he said, “but they are a part of the process.”

Jackson also senses an energy and enthusiasm from the faculty for the expanded program. He talked of the school’s involvement with PACT, or Providence Alliance for Catholic Teaching, a master’s degree program run by Providence College. Presently, four faculty members are actively involved in the program, meaning they teach at Hendricken during the day and take night courses at PC. Another five of the faculty members are alums of the program.

According to a release on the new program, SELECT is named for the Institute’s six core tenets. They are:

l Scholarship: Students will study a rigorous curriculum in Mathematics, Science and the Humanities subjects, including many university-caliber courses.

l Excellence: Students will train to seek the highest achievement in areas in and outside the classroom, including Catholic values that form them as faith-filled young men.

l Leadership: Students will develop the confidence, critical thinking and communications skills to grow into their generation’s most valued decision makers.

l Expression: Students will discover their unique talents and voice against the backdrop of classical and modern arts, languages and history.

l Community: Students will grow in awareness of significant issues in their neighborhoods, state, country and the world through volunteer work and knowledge of Catholic teaching.

l Technology: Students will employ state-of-the-art tools to prepare to thrive in a constantly shifting global economy.

Students and families interested in the inaugural SELECT eighth-grade class should plan to attend one of Bishop Hendricken’s Fall Open Houses, set for Sunday, Oct. 19, or Sunday, Nov. 16, from noon to 3 p.m. An information session tailored specifically to introducing SELECT has been set for Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m. at Bishop Hendricken.

Students and parents also can learn more by visiting www.hendricken.com, or by contacting Director of Admissions Cathy Solomon at 739-3450, ext. 163, or csolomon@hendricken.com.

Comments

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  • Justanidiot

    So, if your parish has a big strapping, athletic boy that will be in 8th grade next year, Hendricken has a school for you. Doesn't even need to be Catholic, just know what side of the ball the air goes into.

    Friday, September 26, 2014 Report this

  • JohnStark

    And yet again, screen names are telling.

    Tuesday, September 30, 2014 Report this