St. Bernard welcomes new class
By Brittany Woodby
The Cullman Times
Younger students are finding their place at one of the area's oldest schools. St. Bernard Preparatory School, the state's only Catholic boarding school, launched its new 7th and 8th grade day program with 35 pupils enrolled for the 2007-2008 school year.

"Everything is going really well," assistant headmaster John Tekulve said. "We continue to have inquiries and visits from people who are interested in the new program."

St. Bernard held an open house for the program in April and school administration worked over the summer to reestablish the former Science Hall next to the Abbey Church as a middle school building. The building was already the site of the high school student lounge, which includes game tables, a large-screen television and social area. Now it also features four middle-school classrooms, lockers and renovated handicap-accessible bathrooms.

"There are new windows in all the classrooms, they were all painted, a fire escape had to be put in, the heat and air was upgraded," Tekulve said. "They've really just done a great job on this building."

Staff and students cut the ribbon at the finished facilities Monday before beginning class.

Since then, Tekulve said students and teachers have been adjusting to the new program and fitting in well with the newly-renovated classrooms.

"The parents and students really appreciate the beauty of the school," Tekulve said. "Not only do they think it's beautiful, but the students appreciate the quality of education they are getting."

"The facilities are great," John Arndt, director of admissions, said. "The teachers have said the classrooms are ideal for teaching and they actually have more space than they need, which will be great when we expand our program."

The middle school's curriculum is included under the accreditation acquired by the high school from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

"Our teachers are fully certified and all are very qualified," Tekulve said. "They are just great and the students are really enjoying them."

The seventh-grade class of 23 students is divided into two sections to allow for a smaller student-teacher ratio. The smaller eighth-grade class is unified into one section. All students take a courseload including mathematics, English grammar and composition, English literature, religion, science, physical education, social studies and an exploratory class covering fine arts and language.

"Scheduling the exploratory classes was a challenge," Tekulve said. "Each student will have taken French and Spanish, music, art, basic computing and journalism when they finish the middle school. We hope to add more exploratory classes in the future."

Arndt said plans are already in place to welcome a larger middle school class next year.

"We still plan on keeping the program open to local students," he said. "We'd like to jump the enrollment up to 50 but even then we won't stop at that."

Until the school grows to accommodate its own athletic department, Tekulve said there are plenty of opportunities for students to take part in varsity and junior varsity sports.

"We've already got students participating in cross country," he said. "The boys can participate in football with the high school team. We hope to have a junior varsity volleyball team for the girls and offer basketball for both boys and girls. We have a very well-rounded athletic program in place."