Announcements

For Immediate Release:   December 6, 2011
Contact:  Diane L. Favret – 301.662.4210 Ext. 181

Saint John’s Catholic Prep Plans Move to New Campus

It is with great excitement to announce that Saint John’s Catholic Prep will be moving to its new location, currently the property of St. Thomas More Academy on Buckeystown Pike in Buckeystown, MD.  Saint John’s and St. Thomas More Academy have been working closely together to further the mission of providing a superior Catholic education to Frederick County’s youth. The parties have entered into a contract to move the location of both schools.  Saint John’s has entered into a contract with St. Thomas More to purchase their building and property.  St. Thomas More will move its school to a to-be-determined location in Frederick County.   

The sale of St. Thomas More Academy’s building and property to Saint John’s Catholic Prep allows each school to move to a building more suitable for their respective sizes and represents a positive development for both communities.  The current St. Thomas More Academy building will be modified and expanded to accommodate 400 high school students initially and will eventually increase to 500 students.  Saint John’s will begin its 2012-2013 school year at the new location. 

In December 2005, Saint John’s Catholic Prep purchased a 46 acre tract of land, adjacent to St. Thomas More Academy, to build its new campus.  The Saint John’s campus will now be 67 acres and allow for more expanded athletic fields and a stadium.  

Saint John’s has reached a pivotal point where it can no longer meet the enrollment needs or escalating academic criteria for its students within the existing, aging facilities.  The Prospect Hall property will be sold to help support the funding for the new forward-thinking and technology-enriched academic campus.  The Saint John’s school community will be marking another milestone in its history as they move to a facility to meet the educational needs of the ever-growing, greater Frederick area.   For the past few years, Saint John’s has experienced a robust increase in enrollment, as well as a substantial increase in its annual fundraising programs. 
 
Mr. Greg Harraka, Chair of the Board of Directors at Saint John’s, stated, “Saint John’s is very grateful to St. Thomas More Academy for this opportunity. The Board is extremely excited and looks forward to moving to its new facility in order to meet the challenges of providing a vibrant, values-based, Roman Catholic education for the 21st century for our students from Maryland, Northern Virginia, and West Virginia.”

Senior Field Trip to Shakespeare Folger Theatre
On Friday, February 10, the entire senior class will be traveling to the Shakespeare Folger Theatre in D.C. for a private presentation and Shakespeare Fight demonstration with Mr. Casey Kaleba.   Students will also have an opportunity to tour the Folger Museum and view the newest exhibit, Shakespeare’s Sisters: Voices of English and European Women Writers, 1500 – 1700.   We will leave the school at 8:30am and return by 2:30pm.   The cost of the field trip is $11 per student and this covers admission to the Folger Theatre and bus transportation.  Permission slips and money for the field trip must be returned by Monday, February 6.