WARWICK — Saint Kevin Elementary and Middle School is practically around the corner from Bishop Hendricken High School, and the freshly painted school bus that carries eight, eighth-graders to there for gym, art and music classes is making short trip that educators hope will pay benefits on the long academic journey to come.
Saint Kevin wants its eighth grade students to not only get an early glimpse of high school but to rub elbows with older students to get an idea of what it takes to succeed in one of Rhode Island’s high achieving secondary schools.
“Our purpose is to get them exposed to the facilities at Hendricken, whether they go there or not,” said Saint Kevin principal Roger Parent. “We want to put them in a state of the art facility to get them acclimated.”
The students are getting acclimated to applause at Hendricken, as more than 20 students from Saint Kevin joined the high school’s chorus for the annual Christmas Pageant in December and then were invited back a few days later to perform at the high school’s Christmas Assembly. Last year, Saint Kevin students had roles in Hendricken’s production of “Oliver.”
“The fact that we can go over to Hendricken helps to build their confidence and will put them in a better position to make the transition to high school,” said Father Robert Marciano, pastor of Saint Kevin Church, who drives the bus. Parishioner John T. Carroll, a local attorney who is a member of the Hendricken Class of 1980, paid for repainting the bus in bright colors with an advertisement on the back door for his law office. The green and gold colors of the high school emblazon the vehicle. “Saint Kevin School Hendricken High School Collaborative” is stenciled along the roof line.
The Saint Kevin students participate in theatre and arts at the high school, and are preparing for their first Rhode Island Science Olympiad appearance on April 12 at Rhode Island College, with the help of Hendricken students who are acting as mentors.
The Science Olympiad is a national program that was created to increase interest in science. It has members in all 50 states with more than 12,000 actively participating K-12 schools. The Science Olympiad aims to teach science by involving students in active, hands-on activities that emphasize problem solving and the scientific process. In state and national competitions, winners of individual events win athletic-style medals, with winning teams earning trophies.
One of the eighth-graders, Brendan Lawrence, whose older brother attends Hendricken, said science and math are his favorite subjects and he is happy with the mentors from the high school who are helping with their Olympiad project.
“I’m glad this is happening while are here,” said Lawrence, who has attended Saint Kevin since third grade. “It helps us explore different areas of science than we were studying this year. I feel like it will give us a better idea of what is going to happen in high school and the amount of work that will be expected of you.”
For Anna Beaulieu, who started at Saint Kevin in kindergarten, the advantage of the collaboration for the eighth-grader — that soon will grow into a team teaching effort in collaboration with Hendricken — is getting a step ahead.
“It almost prepares you for high school,” Beaulieu said. “It is interesting being with the kids at the high school, and I like the opportunity to sing with the boys in the choir.”
The school has also used the gym at Overbrook Academy, a private school housed nearby at the Aldrich Mansion, for physical education classes.
Organizers of the initiatives say they hope such collaborations will help Saint Kevin to draw more students and families to its solid educational program.
Saint Kevin School has seen its enrollment increase from 141 students to 203 students in the last six years.
“We see our success as a school tied to their success,” Parent said of the students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Saint Kevin School has 18 teachers and an active family and parish network that supports the school with fund raising.
“We are a very caring community,” Father Marciano said of the 55-year-old school, which was built before the church. “The parish is very supportive of the school,” he added.
When the school encountered a budget gap last year, parents, parishioners and friends raised $40,000 at the school’s 15th annual auction, which featured a 24-page book for sale created by the school’s students in collaboration with the faculty.
Father Marciano and Parent said Saint Kevin School is aggressively marketing what it offers to Warwick residents who are facing a school financial crisis. The school is sending a mailing to city residents who live in the 02886 and 02889 zip codes who have children ages 5 to 13, they said.
Saint Kevin School and the parish operates on the principle that “no child should be denied a Catholic education because of cost,” Marciano said. The school and parish work hand in hand to assist families who have difficulty paying the $4,300 tuition for parishioners or the $4,600 tuition for non-parishioners, the pastor and principal have said.
On school days, Saint Kevin opens at 7 a.m., with supervised, free, before-school child care. Some students bring their breakfast with them. An afterschool child care program has a fee and is open until 6 p.m.
The school offers literature and writing in separate blocks in middle school and students learn Spanish and French starting in kindergarten. They learn the languages in alternating lessons until sixth grade when they have each for one-half of the year. In seventh grade, they choose one or the other.
“We are bringing it to the next level for our students,” Parent said.
And with that brightly-colored bus they are doing it in style.
