Saint John Berchmans School News // August
The only thing more cyclical than a school year is the four seasons, but I’m not a meteorologist nor am I an expert in hotel chains, and with things that are governed by cycles we come to expect the same events to happen around the same time each year. Christmas is in the winter, May Crowning is in the spring, summer break is in, well, the summer, and St. John Berchmans Catholic School starts its school year in August. However, what’s different this year is that St. John Berchmans is not only going to follow its traditional school year cycle but will also bring newness onto the playing field which has set itself up for a terrifically successful academic year.
Starting off the year running, SJB is led by its new principal, Trey Woodham, to take the helm and steer it in the right direction. He not only has been an instrumental part in the LSUS and SJB partnership (which I will talk about later), but he has also worked diligently behind the scenes to bring a new and improved website and marketing plan into the fray - which will bear its fruits in the Fall. Not only that, SJB Catholic School, alongside the staff of St. John Berchmans Cathedral, will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the life and death of their namesake patron saint, St. John Berchmans, through various activities for their students and parishioners from August 13th of this year to November 26th of next year. Coincidentally, Bishop Malone will also celebrate his FIRST school Mass in the Diocese on August 13th, the feast day of St. John Berchmans.
In terms of schooling itself, you may have read in one of the previous issues about the excitingly beneficial partnership between LSUS and SJB school. This partnership will effectively commence when school starts and will cater specifically to 7th and 8th-grade students who will be taught humanities in one of their classes by college professors- to put this into perspective, only a handful of my high school classmates and I were able to be taught by college professors in our senior year, and now the SJB middle school students will have that same opportunity a high schooler has, to grow not only in knowledge but also in preparation for college.
Finally, the physical school building itself is being worked on to bring about a fresher, more refined, look. There are landscaping projects in the works on the North and East side of the building. Classrooms are being remodeled one by one and the school is aiming to produce a pre-COVID environment better than its competitors.
With the support and prayers of its families and Cathedral parishioners throughout the 2021-22 academic year, St. John Berchmans Catholic School will undoubtedly help lead its home city, its parishioners, and its students (whom it cares for the most) towards greater academic achievements, memorable milestones, and to Jesus Christ who is at the heart of every Catholic School.
