The potential merging of the Diocese of Steubenville with the Diocese of Columbus has raised a plethora of doubts and difficulties.
The recent announcement by Bishop Jeffrey Monforton concerning the possible merger involving the 13 counties in the Diocese of Steubenville has been met with concern from the parishioners inside those counties. For example, if a merger takes place, who from what parish would be in charge? The Catholic Diocese of Columbus already serves Ohio Catholics in 23 counties, including some of the state’s larger parishes. How would these 13 counties get shuffled into the mix, especially in terms of importance and attention?
While parish members are pondering the what-ifs should the move go forward, parents of children enrolled in the diocese of Steubenville’s schools may be wondering the same thing. Enrollment in Catholic schools, like the parish churches themselves, has been dwindling for more than a decade. Will Columbus be as willing to fight to keep an Eastern Ohio catholic school open as fervently as Steubenville might?
In fairness, the Bishop did say that Catholic Central High School (in Steubenville) and others would be unaffected, but, given the overall climate, parents are wishing for more certainty surrounding the education of their children.
That is why the leadership at St. John Central Academy is taking this opportunity to remind those parents, and any others wanting their sons and daughters to receive a quality yet affordable private school education with a religious component, that the Academy is still here for their needs.
Founded in 2019, St. John Central Academy began its fourth full school year back in August after a successful run as St. John Central High and Elementary Schools. And while enrollment and funding may be declining in the area parochial schools in Eastern Ohio, all signs point to positivity at the academy.
“We want it to be known that we’re investing money into the school,” said Johnetta Yaegal, Board Chairman with SJCA. “We’re remodeling our chemistry lab, which is a $127,000 upgrade. It’s really coming together nicely. There is a lecture area, plus we have a chemistry lab on one side, and a STEM lab on the other.
“Any grade level is able to use the STEM lab.”
The academy also purchased and is about to have a $90,000 boiler installed to upgrade the school’s heating capabilities. All computers in the school have been upgraded and all students in grades 1-12 receive their own tablet to use.
“Every student receives a Chromebook and all of our classes are available on Google classrooms,” Yaegel said. “We’ve also upgraded our entire IT department.”
Still a Religious Component
While St. John Central Academy is no longer affiliated with the diocese, it still offers a religious education component for its students as faith is a big part of the SJCA experience.
Students attend church once a week. For those who aren’t Catholic and wish to attend mass at nearby St. John, there is a praise and worship service offered in the gym by music teacher Brent Kimball, who also happens to be a licensed preacher.
Bible and Theology classes are still held, including the Catechism, Ethics and Morality, History of World Religions, and Old and New Testament. The History of World Religions class can also count as a history class.
The continued religious component has allowed SJCA to recruit not only parochial students to its halls, but also students in nearby Christian schools, like Martins Ferry Christian, when its students graduate out and are looking to continue their education at the high school level.
“Martins Ferry Christian has been a great place for us to get kids. We’ve brought in a lot of great families from that school and others,” Yaegal said.
She noted the Diocese in the past had been iffy on allowing SJCA in to talk and actively recruit students for its high school grade levels because of it no longer being affiliated. If this merger goes through, though, parents may be looking for other options for their children that still contain a religious education component and smaller class sizes.
Dollars and Sense
The tuition at St. John Central Academy is affordable by private school standards, coming in at $4,830. That can be broken up into nine or 12-monthly payments for easier affordability for parents. In addition, potential students may be eligible for EdChoice Scholarships from the state of Ohio.
Traditional EdChoice Scholarships are available based upon income requirements, found here. Students found eligible can receive up to a certain amount for their education. The scholarship award amount maximum is more than SJCA’s tuition amount, meaning the cost is covered fully.
In addition, students residing in EdChoice public school districts are also eligible to have their tuition covered.
EdChoice designated schools for 2022-23 are ones that (a) are ranked in the lowest 20 percent on the Performance Index Ratings for both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years; and (b) are operated by a school district where Title 1 formulate percentage is 20 percent or above of the last three school years of record. They can also be so designated if the school’s district has an academic distress commission in place.
For the 2022-23 school year, only Bellaire High School in Belmont County is so designated, along with Beallsville, Monroe Central, and River High Schools in Monroe County, plus Powhatan Elementary. No schools in Jefferson or Harrison qualify, and only Meadowbrook High School does in Guernsey County.
The previous year, both Martins Ferry High School in Belmont and Caldwell High in Noble also were so designated.
As an example, if a student whose home district school for their age was Powhatan Elementary, they could attend SJCA free of charge. Because they were eligible once for the EdChoice scholarship, they would be eligible and would receive that scholarship every year until they graduated, provided they didn’t move home districts.
If a student moves, the scholarship potentiality is based entirely upon their district of residence, and will reset upon moving.
“Right now, about 40 percent of our students are either on traditional or expanded program EdChoice scholarships,” Yaegal said. “If they are eligible once, it will pay for private school from now until they graduate.”
The Teamwork Lesson
While education and preparing children for their future is the ultimate goal of any school, Yaegal recognizes the importance athletics plays in the Upper Ohio Valley.
St. John Central still offers competitive athletics in a number of sports at the high school level, including volleyball, girls basketball, bowling, golf, swimming, track & field, and cross country.
The academy also boasts its popular eSports team, which competes online in various video games.
A large freshman class may help bring about the return of the softball team as there are 12 students apiece in both the 8th and 9th grade classes and nearly all of those play sports.
Soccer is an emerging sports on the junior high level and its availability as a high school sport will depend on interest and numbers.
While St. John does not currently field a boys varsity basketball team, football team, nor baseball, attending students can still play these sports for their home district’s public school team. That’s because any private school student can play for their home public school district, provided their private school doesn’t offer that sport.
For more information, visit St. John Central Academy online at www.sjcacademy.net.
