Greenbush school ready to sprout

The school will add seventh and eighth grades during the 2001-2002 school year. The junior high students will be housed in an addition to the school that will be built next March.

The addition, according to principal Sister Maureen Moffitt, CSJ, will include space for sixth through eighth grade. It will also contain a large library, computer center and science labs. Space in the existing school building will be converted to a music and art room, a faculty room, and classrooms for advanced courses.

Addition

Since seventh and eighth grades are difficult times in children's lives, she explained, their being able to continue their education in the small school environment they are used to will nurture academic success.

Parents were interested in adding the junior high for other reasons as well. In addition to serving students from East Greenbush and other parts of Rensselaer County, the school attracts children from Columbia County. Once they left the school, they no longer had the opportunity to attend a Catholic school. The addition of a junior high will give their families the option of keeping their children in a Catholic school for two more years.

Asset

The parish faith formation program will also benefit. Currently, he said, the parish does not have adequate space for junior high and high school aged religious education. Holy Spirit School currently houses grades pre-kindergarten through six. When teens come to the parish for faith formation, they must squeeze into desks designed for younger children.

This will not be the first time the school has offered seventh and eighth grades. The school had a junior high program until 1987 when a decline in enrollment led to the decision to eliminate the two grades. Eventually, the space that had been used for those grades was converted to a daycare program and a pre-kindergarten.

Enrollment rise

According to Father St. John, enrollment jumped "because of the leadership of our principal as well as a renewed interest in Catholic education."

Sister Maureen said that "our growth can be attributed to our getting the message out there. We have a marvelous and creative faculty, a lot of parental involvement, outstanding test scores, and extracurricular activities."

Pluses

A solid pre-K program, highly skilled faculty and a strong academic program are also key to Holy Spirit's growth. "Parents want to be confident their child is getting a good education," he said.

The building project will be financed with funds raised through a parish wide capital campaign as well as from donations from Columbia County parents who utilize the school, Father St. John said. The project is expected to cost approximately $800,000.

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