Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Columbia Heights and St. John Paul II Catholic School (JPII) in Minneapolis will combine efforts and operations at the Immaculate Conception school building beginning July 1, officials said Dec. 2.
Keeping the building open in Minneapolis would require major repairs, they said. Immaculate Conception is three miles away.
“After careful consideration, exploration of other options and prayerful reflection, we have decided it is in the best interest of JPII to forge a union with Immaculate Conception,” the Ascension Catholic Academy said in a letter to its partner institutions Ascension Catholic School in Minneapolis; St. Pascal Regional Catholic School and St. Peter Claver Catholic School, both in St. Paul; and JPII.
Immaculate Conception will join those partner institutions as a member of the academy, which was founded in 2016 as a consortium of Catholic schools serving diverse neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. The academy provides centralized leadership and governance.
Several area parishes have supported and provided students for JPII as well, including All Saints, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Boniface, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Holy Cross, St. Lawrence and Our Lady of Lourdes, all in Minneapolis.
All the member schools of Ascension Catholic Academy also are part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ 10-member Drexel Mission Schools Initiative, which serves schools with the highest concentration of children and families who could benefit from additional resources.
Immaculate Conception and JPII have been working through the process with help from the archdiocese, Ascension Catholic Academy said in the letter. JPII Principal Tricia Menzhuber is serving as principal of both schools. Her leadership team and many, if not all, current JPII teachers will take on similar responsibilities at Immaculate Conception when the move is complete.
“Through careful preparation and planning, we believe the transition will go smoothly,” academy officials said in the letter. “We remain committed to providing our families the same opportunity for a faith-based and rigorous education they have come to expect, though in a different location.”
