By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – What’s the big deal about adding an eighth grade to an already established high school?
Talking to Pope John Paul High School Principal Martha Mundine, it’s quite clear there is much more than you might think. And as of school opening this fall, the eighth graders are back at Pope.
When the Archdiocese of New Orleans made a decision in the spring of 2013 that all of its Catholic high schools must include eighth grade it was of little effect to the majority of the schools in the New Orleans area.
But not so for PJP, sitting across the lake in Slidell.
Pope John Paul had an eighth grade many years ago after opening in 1980. From 1988 to ’96 the eighth grade Catholic students had an option to come to PJP, but the school elected to drop the eighth grade at that point and hasn’t had it since then.
When the edict came down from the Archdiocese in 2013, Mundine said she and the Slidell-area Catholic elementary schools—St. Margaret Mary and Our Lady Lourdes—agreed it would be best to leave the eighth graders at SMM and OLL. But that request was turned down by the Archdiocese and off went Mundine and two key staffers to start the preparation process for adding eighth grade back at Pope.
“What do you have to change to add eighth grade?” Mundine said with a smile. “A lot more than many people think.”
There was so much to consider that Mundine joined with Assistant Principal Lise Bremond and Dean of Students Roz Delaney on a retreat to Georgia, “simply to get away and concentrate on nothing but the changes we had to implement.”
The four day retreat did the job and as of the 2015-2016 school term beginning this past Monday, eighth graders are walking the halls with older students.
However, even walking the halls with the older kids is not happening any more than is necessary.
“Something as simple as being in classrooms with older kids, or having lunch with them, is something that we determined would be best if we didn’t have them all together,” Mundine said.
When considering what it took for PJP to be prepared for the transition of eighth graders returning to the school, the list of key points is long, she explained.
Consider things like:
–Eighth graders are so much younger than 12th graders that they don’t need to be walking the same halls with them, so the school was split into three different halls and classrooms to separate different age groups.
–Faculty had to devise an entirely new classroom schedule to accommodate the new students.
–The lunchroom schedule had to be reconfigured to add an entirely new group of kids.
–Families were not prepared for the increased tuition cost for their children to attend high school. Private school education for elementary students is less than high school.
–Many clubs had to change to accommodate eighth grade students.
–Sports teams had to order an entire new size of uniforms and equipment for every sport, since some eighth graders are physically smaller than older kids.
–Eligibility for eighth graders to play sports had to be considered since the Louisiana High School Athletic Association only offers a set number of years for a student to play high school sports.
“You can see there was a lot to change,” Mundine said, still smiling as she prepared for eighth graders to show up on book and uniform day.
“There was certainly a lot of work, but it’s exciting to know they are coming this year and I believe we are as ready as we can be. We’ll still encounter new issues, but we will deal with them as they happen,” she added.
Probably the biggest issue was the athletics and tuition costs for families.
Athletic Director Mark Jeanmard said “the biggest challenge with the eighth graders is being certain who is ready to compete on a high school level and who is not. It will be different for different sports, but there is a lot to consider.”
He said the school encountered a major increase in expenses when ordering uniforms and equipment this year since eighth graders are naturally smaller from a physical standpoint.
Mundine said the tuition at most private schools goes up a few hundred dollars a year, but the big problem for many families is that they were not prepared to have another child go to high school a year earlier than expected, where costs are higher than elementary Catholic schools.
To assist in that, the school offers several discounts for the eighth graders, including discounts for being a parishioner, scoring high on an entrance test, and also offering financial assistance to some families.
For Mundine, she had to expand her “CEO expertise” because she is essentially operating a budget at a business, of sorts, that is annually around $2.7 million.
Mundine came to Pope John Paul as the new principal four years ago, now beginning her fifth year and offering the perfect fit of educator, administrator and friend to faculty and students.
Moving here from Mobile to take the principal job, she has a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership, and an Undergraduate Degree in Elementary Education. She has been a teacher and principal in Catholic schools for over 23 years.
Since becoming the principal at PJP in 2011, she has seen the school grow back to 345 students, not far from the max of nearly 400 just before Katrina.
Two years ago she realized the school was “drowning in sports trophies” from winning a multitude of championships in many sports. She developed the idea to post huge banners in the gymnasium, one for every sport, and keeping track of the entire school history for championships. When walking into the gym this year visitors will be greeted by the colorful wooden, painted banners on the walls all around the gym, highlighting the great sports history at the school.
“We couldn’t lose our history,” she said. “I saw similar banners in another school and thought that we should do it here, and it came out very nice.”
One other matter with the eighth graders is dances sponsored by the school.
“Eighth graders won’t be allowed to come to Homecoming,” she added. “But eighth graders will have their own dances. We just don’t see it working out for them to be at dances with the older kids.”