With the 2023-24 school year set to begin next week, superintendents and administrators at districts and schools throughout Madison County and nearby communities reflect on the new initiatives they have
This fall, they ll be the first students of the St. Michael Catholic School.
The unified school will officially open on June 1 at 2301 W. Gilbert St., the current location of St. Mary School and Pope John Paul II Middle School.
Dozens of parents and community members were present at the event, with Father Eric Underwood, pastor of Muncie s three parishes, and Principal Rob Frey revealing the new name. This year, we re taking another step a beautiful step in the unification of Catholic education here in Muncie, to be a collaborative ministry of all three parishes, Underwood said to the crowd. We are so blessed to share our faith and to praise Jesus Christ in all that we do.
The combination of the two schools comes after Muncie s three Catholic churches; St. Francis of Assisi, St. Lawrence, and St. Mary, joined efforts in August 2020 to form the Muncie Catholic pastorate.
While each church still offers its own individual Masses and programming, the pastorate now works together to promote the overall mission of the Catholic community in Muncie, according to the release.
School founded 140 years ago
Originally located across Hackley Street from St. Lawrence Catholic Church, the school moved in 1988 into its current location, the former Franklin Junior High School building on East 16th Street. In 2016, Inspire Academy, a local public charter school, bought the 16th Street building and agreed to lease the back hallway to St. Lawrence. Even while sharing the building, the two schools remained physically and ideologically separated.