St. John's to add middle school for boys

By William T. Clew
The Catholic Free Press

    SHREWSBURY - St. John’s High School will add a middle school for boys beginning in 2020, the school has announced.
    The school is slated to open Sept. 2, 2020, with a seventh-grade class of 75 to 90 students and an average class size of 18 to 22, according to a press release from St. John’s.
    In the second year the middle school will grow to include an eighth grade. When the eighth grade is fully established in 2021, the middle school division will include from 150 to 180 students, the press release stated.
    Sean Dillon has been named founding assistant principal. He has served as principal of the Nativity School in Worcester for the last 10 years. Before that he taught at Nativity for five years. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross, a master’s degree  in teaching from Clark University and a master’s degree in education with a concentration in Catholic school leadership from Boston College.
    “After a great deal of prayer, discernment and research, I am thrilled that young men in our community will have access to a St. John’s education earlier, and am proud we are able to offer an all-male, middle school Catholic education in our community for the first time in decades,” St. John’s Headmaster Alex Zequeira said in the press release.
    “With the leadership of Sean Dillon, whose experience with middle school student development and curriculum is unmatched, we are excited to welcome a new group of young men into our community that strives to know, love and value each and every student. We look forward to the energy, God-given talents and spirit each of them will bring to the St. John’s family,” Mr. Zequeira said.
    Mr. Zequeira was president of the Nativity School before being named headmaster at  St. John’s in 2016.
    Mr.  Zequeira sent a letter Tuesday addressed to “colleagues and friends of the Diocese of Worcester” before making the public announcement of the middle school expansion at St. John’s.
    He said he had notified the diocese last June that St. John’s was beginning a discernment process on the possibility of expanding. After surveying families, interviewing peer schools, examining demographic data, holding focus groups and talking to Catholic school leaders, St. John’s decided to go ahead with expansion.
    He said he wanted to share the news with the diocese and school department before making the public announcement “because you are among our most valued partners and share our commitment  to Catholic education.”
    He said that the middle school is a way St. John’s can fulfill its mission to serve the local Catholic community and offer seventh- and eighth-grade boys the opportunity to attend an all-male Catholic middle school, “an option that is not currently available to students and families in the area.” He also noted that St. John’s was founded as a grammar school for boys in grades four through six.