Lourdes College to operate Sylvania Franciscan Academy |
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Written by LAURIE STEVENS BERTKE, Chronicle Writer
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Tuesday, 07 July 2009 01:00 |
SYLVANIA—Two institutions founded and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis in Sylvania are partnering to introduce a new educational model to the region this coming academic year.
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Sylvania Franciscan Sister Diana Lynn Eckel, congregational minister, said a plan for Lourdes College to partner with Sylvania Franciscan Academy has the full support and blessing of the Sisters of St. Francis, who sponsor both institutions. (Chronicle photo by Laurie Stevens Bertke)
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The Sylvania Franciscan Academy is to become part of Lourdes College, with the college operating the Catholic elementary school through its Department of Education Teacher Education program.
Both parties have much to gain from the partnership, Lourdes College president Robert Helmer said during a press conference at the academy June 30.
“All kinds of opportunities will exist for the academy to participate in the life of Lourdes College and to become even stronger,” said Dr. Helmer. “And from the college’s standpoint, the same is true.”
Though a task force is still being formed to develop “the strategic plan for the long-term future of how we can maximize these two educational opportunities,” Dr. Helmer cited examples of areas where the institutions might collaborate.
Professional development opportunities at the college will be extended to faculty and staff of the academy, and “the students of the academy will have at their disposal the resources of Lourdes College,” he said.
Examples of new opportunities for the students include the use of Lourdes’ science labs by the middle school, the integration of the Life Lab and Planetarium into the science curriculum and the broadening of advanced math, art, foreign languages and environmental sciences in collaboration with the college’s professors.
At the same time, Dr. Helmer said the college’s education majors will “participate in a much more focused, much more regular way in the life of the academy,” which strengthens them in their preparation.
Faculty and staff in the Lourdes education program will also have “the opportunity to interact, to take cutting-edge best practices that they’re doing in their research and put them into practice in an educational setting immediately,” Dr. Helmer added.
Those in attendance at the press conference included faculty, staff and other stakeholders from both institutions, including many representatives from the Sisters of St. Francis.
Sylvania Franciscan Sister Diana Lynn Eckel, congregational minister, said the new endeavor has the full support and blessing of the sisters.
“As your sponsors, we are eager to see the plan unfold,” said Sr. Eckel.
The Sisters of St. Francis founded Lourdes College in 1953, and they began sponsoring a private preschool and grade school called the St. Francis Education Center in 1973. Today the school is known as the Sylvania Franciscan Academy, and its present site, which opened in August 2002, is located on Silica Drive across the street from the Lourdes College campus.
The school had an enrollment of 156 children in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade as of June 30, and new families are still enrolling for fall.
A headmaster is yet to be hired for the school’s next academic year.
For more information on the Sylvania Franciscan Academy, visit www.s-f-a.org.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 10 September 2009 15:44 |
