Bishop Marshall School prepares to expand

“This expansion was really just a wish-list item — it just wasn’t possible until we met with Mr. Manosh and he made this dream come to life for us,” Jennifer Nordenson, vice principal and director of enrollment and marketing at the school, said in a press release.

“Mr. Manosh is a longtime supporter of Lamoille County and our school. We are beyond thrilled to be partnering with him to expand our offering to families of this region,” said Carrie Wilson, head of school.

“We’ve always been a supporter of that school. Back when it was first founded, we made a substantial contribution,” Manosh told the News & Citizen on Tuesday. He’s followed along as the school has grown and flourished since its founding in 1998; it moved into its current home a year later.

“I think they do a good job there and they’re busting at the seams. They need more room,” Manosh said. When asked what amount he planned to donate to the school for the expansion, he declined to give a specific number, instead replying, “We’ll do whatever it takes; we’ll get the job done.”

The final permits for the project have been applied for, and Manosh would like to begin construction as soon as June 1. Ideally, he hopes the new wing will be completed by early August, in time for school, but the school staff plans to begin the 2019-20 school year without the extra space.

About the school

Bishop John A. Marshall School is an independent Catholic school for children from pre-K through eighth grade. It has 127 students this school year, with an average class size of 13 to 15.

Says its website: “Our goal is to provide children the ideal atmosphere to be who they were created to be, to reach their fullest potential, and to protect their innocence.”

Families from 15 ZIP codes attend the school. While the school has a strong Catholic identity, it welcomes students of all faiths.

Bishop Marshall receives no public funding and relies primarily on tuition to operate. A substantial fundraising program helps cover what tuition does not, and tuition assistance is offered to families.

The new wing

Once it’s open, the new wing — which will be built off the north end of the current school building — will be home to two new pre-K classrooms, each about 900 square feet.

Bishop Marshall now has only one pre-K classroom, in a small space that was once a teachers’ lounge.

“We converted the space into a prekindergarten classroom in 2007,” Nordenson said.

For safety reasons, there can be no more than 10 students in the current pre-K classroom. The expansion will allow 15 students in each of the new pre-K rooms, tripling the number of prekindergarten students Bishop Marshall will be able to enroll.

“Ten students is still a very tight fit for that classroom,” Nordenson said in the press release. “… We have been wanting to expand for some time now.”

The current pre-K room serves students who turn 4 by Sept. 30 of that school year. One of the new classrooms will still be for students in that age range, and the second will likely be for slightly younger students — age 3 and a half to 4 and a half.

The school will be able to educate students from age 3 until they graduate eighth grade and move on to whatever high school they choose, Nordenson said.

“Our admissions inquiries requesting information and screening for pre-kindergarten-aged children and younger have increased significantly over the last two years,” Nordenson said. “The majority of my admissions inquiries are for this age group, 3-5 years old. We get families calling a year out, saying they’re interested.”

The second pre-K room likely won’t accept students until the 2020-21 school year, but the school would like to open it sooner if possible, Nordenson said, and she’s encouraging interested families to apply for a spot or get on a waiting list now.

‘Shortage of spaces’

Wilson regularly fields questions about whether Bishop Marshall will add a high school, but that’s not where the greatest demand seems to be.

“At this point, our data indicates that the need is greatest with our younger population,” Wilson said.

“There is a shortage of spaces open for full-day, full-time pre-kindergarten programs to help prepare our youngest learners for school and support working parents,” said Laurie Flaherty, the pre-K director and teacher at Bishop Marshall, in the press release.

The new wing will also house a 1,500-square-foot multi-purpose room that will be used for indoor physical activities and be the new home of Bishop Marshall’s after-school program.

That program currently serves students in kindergarten through grade eight, Nordenson said, but the hope is that the new space and the related increase in staff will allow the school eventually to expand the program to include the pre-K students.

That will allow Bishop Marshall to provide a place for younger learners to be from 7:30 a.m. until their parents pick them up at 5 p.m.

The new multipurpose room in the addition will have a separate entrance that opens up on the school’s athletic fields, which will allow for separate pickup later in the day, and new parking will be added as part of a realigned parking lot.

The addition will also include a small kitchen where students can learn to cook, two large bathrooms, storage space for the multipurpose room, and a teachers’ lounge.

The architectural plans for the new wing are being drawn up by Greg Paus at Silver Ridge Design, and Manosh staffers Kevin Amyot and Gary Nolan will oversee the work once it begins.

“They’re doing a lot of good; we’re looking forward to this,” Manosh said. “We’re excited to be of help. Hopefully this will work out well for them.”

“This is such an incredible opportunity, I am still in disbelief that our dream of expanding the school is becoming a reality,” Wilson said. “Mr. Manosh believes in our mission and we will continue to inspire greatness in our students by providing them with the space they need to learn and grow.”

For more info on the Bishop John A. Marshall School, visit bjams.org or call 888-4758.