PAULSBORO — On Saturday, April 28, and Monday, April 30, prospective students and their parents will have an opportunity to check out Guardian Angels Regional School’s new campus here, which will house the school’s fourth through sixth grades next year, and, eventually, seventh and eighth grades.
The Pre-K-third grade students will continue having classes at the original Gibbstown location.
In September 2001, the old St. Michael School in Gibbstown, closed since 1987, was refurbished to become Guardian Angels Regional School. Beginning with a small group of Pre-K and kindergarten students, every year since it has added on another grade.
Guardian Angels is the regional school for the churches of St. Michael Parish, Gibbstown; Holy Name of Jesus, Mullica Hill; and St. John the Evangelist, Paulsboro. The site of the next year’s fourth through sixth grade campus is the former site of St. John the Evangelist School, right next to the church.
“We are quickly realizing that our current campus in Gibbstown is running out of space to accommodate our growing needs, and we’re so excited that we will now be able to expand programs at both of our locations,” said Sister Jerilyn Einstein, Guardian Angels principal. She is a member of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Infant Jesus.
“Gibbstown will remain home to our Pre-K to grade three students, and now that grades four and five will be moving to our other campus, we’ll have room to enhance programs at both sites,” she said.
In the works since last fall, the school at Paulsboro, approximately three miles from Gibbstown, is planning, in addition to classrooms, a library, computer lab, science lab, art and music studio and a gymnasium. The gym, which is a first for Guardian Angels, will be the largest elementary school gym in the Camden Diocese.
Currently, there are 175 students enrolled in Pre-K-5 at Guardian Angels. Sister Jerilyn believes that, when classes start for the 2007-08 school year, around 200 students will be enrolled between the two campuses.
“I feel that it shows we are accomplishing our mission and vocation of educating the children in all aspects. We are definitely responding to the needs of the community,” Sister Jerilyn said. “The growth tells me that the sense of God is very strong, as is the desire for the continuation of our faith.”
The elementary schools in the Diocese of Camden are currently ungergoing a planning process to revitalize Catholic education. Schools are not planning in isolation but in clusters, with a steering committee for each cluster.
Guardian Angels belongs to Cluster 8, which currently is studying demographics, finances, facilities, transportation, academic/religion
programs. Recommendations are due to the Superintendent of Schools for review and feedback by June 13, 2007, and a final decision by Bishop Joseph Galante is anticipated in November 2007.
Sister Jerilyn said that the growth of Guardian Angels will enable it to hire more staff.
“We are so pleased that as we expand we’ll be hiring several teachers who found themselves without employment due to school closings and reconfigurations in our area, in the first four of 12 school planning clusters, ” she said.
The open house for Guardian Angels’ fourth through sixth grade campus, in Paulsboro, will be on Saturday, April 28, from noon- 2 p.m., and Monday, April 30, from 6:30- 8:30 p.m., at 712 Beacon Ave., Paulsboro.
The school is currently accepting registration for students in Pre-K for ages 3-4, and kindergarten through sixth grade. Inquiries are being taken for seventh and eighth grades. For more information or to schedule a tour, call 856-423-9440, or visit www.gars-online.com