The diggers – one student each from first through eighth grade at Cranston Johnston Catholic Regional School as well as Bishop Thomas J. Tobin – were part of a school-wide groundbreaking ceremony.
Every student was given a yellow construction hat and joined legions of family, friends, diocesan and school staff on the school's lawn Wednesday morning to officially embark on the ambitious project.
The new 42,000-square-foot school, which replaces the current school, will accommodate 325 students in grades pre-K-8. The entire school will have wireless internet access.
Many extracurricular programs will get a boost from the new facility, which will include a library/media center, a gymnasium, a 200-seat theater, art galleries and an art studio. Opening date is slated for fall, 2009.
Incorporating technology into the school's curriculum is a goal of the new project. Father Ronald Brassard, the pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish, said: "Our stated vision reads 'This Catholic school, like all schools, is interested in creating a learning environment where teaching and technology, math and science, language and literature as well as music, theater, the visual arts and athletics are carefully taught to the students. It is a school where the finest of learning environments will be created so that the best of each student can be nurtured and reach its full potential.'"
At the new school, he added, faculty and staff will also place heavy importance on giving students a faith-based education. "This school is also a place of faith, of the Catholic faith. It is a place where students not only learn about things but also and most importantly are shown how to live that faith.
"The students of this Catholic school will be given the foundation to live their faith not only in the classroom but in the daily commerce of life," Father Brassard said.
Opening a new school is an important message to the community and to the diocese, said Superintendent Sheila Durante. This is the first new school to be built by the diocese since Monsignor Clarke School opened in Wakefield in 1967. "This is a sign that Catholic education is still alive and well. Yes, we have our problems, but we're going to carry on and continue to do the best that we can for every student we have and for those that we will potentially have," she said.
During the groundbreaking ceremony two seventh grade students spoke. They are members of what will become the first graduating class of the new school, the Immaculate Conception Catholic Regional School class of 2010.
Stephanie Jackvony said that though they are moving to a new building with a new name the spirit of the school will remain the same. "We know that our school is so much more than the walls around us and it is truly the spirit of the people within those walls that builds an amazing school community. This is what CJCR has taught us and we look forward to taking that knowledge with us to our new school," she said.
The new school will cost an estimated $8 million to complete, which will be paid for using proceeds from the anticipated sale of the current CJCR school building, private donations, bond revenue and loans from the Interparish Loan Fund of the diocese.
Architects from Saccoccio & Associates of Cranston designed the new school. E. Turgeon Construction Corporation, also of Cranston, is responsible for construction.
