Photo Caption: Ashley Slaight, Madison Hills and Lisa Do huddle around a laptop at one of the learning centers in the school’s new science lab.

By: By Jennifer Willems

ROCK ISLAND — They’re home.

On Jan. 4, the seventh- and eighth-graders at Jordan Catholic School returned to the campus where they started their education and walked into classrooms in the new addition that made their return possible.

“The eighth-graders didn’t think they were going to be in here when we first started talking about it,” said Janine Parr, Jordan’s director of advancement. “I think those students thought, ‘It’s not going to be done in time for us.'”

Ground was broken last May. Work on the $2.3 million addition and renovation was expected to be completed this month, but was finished early.

“Those contractors were amazing,” Parr told The Catholic Post. “It was a dry summer — we didn’t run into a lot of problems with rain — and we had a mild winter. They finished a month ahead of schedule and we were so appreciative of that.”

What the Jordan students found when they walked through the doors of the 15,000-square-foot addition were four new middle school classrooms, wired for technology teaching; computer technology and science labs; new music and art rooms with plenty of storage for instruments and supplies; and a new multi-purpose room for early childhood physical education and sports practice, as well as school events.

The former kindergarten area was renovated to make way for the expanded Peter and Donna Babcock Memorial Library, and the former day care area was made over into a room for reading and math, and the Jordan Engineering Team. Before the school year ends, every classroom will be equipped with a SMART board for interactive learning.

What the students may not notice but the parents will appreciate is new building access security and fire alarm systems and construction of a corridor that will link all the classrooms with Farrell Hall, the parish hall for St. Pius X Parish.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, will visit the Jordan Catholic School community for a Mass and dedication at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26, at St. Pius X Church. A luncheon will follow in Farrell Hall.

‘JUST HEAVENLY’
This is the first time in the school’s history that all of the students have been on one campus.

Jordan draws students from St. Pius X, where the school is located, Sacred Heart and St. Mary’s, all in Rock Island; St. Ambrose in Milan; and St. Patrick’s in Andalusia. Over the years classes also have been held at the former St. Joseph’s School and Sacred Heart School, and most recently the middle school was located at St. Ambrose.

Sixth grade science teacher Kathy Barrett has taught in all of them.
“We’ve always been pretty adaptable because we’ve had to be . . . because of the way the facility was set up,” she said. “Now it’s just heavenly.”

Barrett was one of the teachers consulted about how the new science lab should be set up. After visiting area schools, the educators recommended that there be learning stations instead of long tables, which will make it possible for students to be placed in groups according to what experiments are being conducted or for progressive learning experiences with students going from center to center.

Two mobile computer labs can provide as many as 40 laptops computers to enhance those learning experiences.

The 22-year veteran also looks forward to being able to have everything in one place, instead of scattered between campuses.

“When the junior high was in another building, we couldn’t share all of those things. We had a limited amount we could use,” Barrett said, adding that now they can share with other grades and cut down on duplication of materials.

SETTLING IN
Barrett emphasized the importance of incorporating the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and said the way the classrooms are clustered enables them to help the students bring everything together in new and exciting ways.

Jordan’s STEM center includes a computer lab with 32 newer Dell desktops that were provided through Computers for Learning, a program instituted by President Clinton. Parr said that when military installations, such as the Rock Island Arsenal, upgrade their equipment they offer the computers that are going to be replaced to the schools.

“We’re lucky to have a local arsenal, so we don’t even have to pay the shipping costs that some schools do,” she said. “We just drive over there and get them when they say they’re ready.”

The middle school students weren’t the only ones who moved at the semester break. Parr said that just about every teacher changed classrooms in order to make the new arrangement work.

“The nice thing about it is I think the students feel comfortable with the school,” she told The Post, noting that the seventh- and eighth-graders are already settled in and enjoying the new facilities.

“This is their school. They’ve gone from pre-school through sixth grade here and now they’re back,” Parr said. “They’re seeing their old teachers in the hall. It’s like coming home for them, so it’s really very nice.”