"Behold, I make all things new!"

Incoming students at the Junior High Summit

SCA PREPARES FOR JUNIOR HIGH

There has been a great deal of excitement this year about SCA’s decision to add seventh and eighth grades for the 2022-2023 school year. Junior high girls from all across Nashville have enjoyed a taste of the Scarab spirit in various ways – from shadow days to Girls’ Night Out, Open House, and the Junior High Leadership Summit, all of which have been led by current students.

Team building games at the Junior High Summit

Sister Anna Laura addresses families at New Family Welcome

Incoming Students at New Family Welcome

Admissions interview day Sister Anna Laura shares the story of St. Cecilia with prospective students

To ready the building for a separate junior high space, renovation will begin this spring to create designated junior high classrooms. SCA is blessed to have ample existing square footage so that junior high girls will have their own distinct area in the current library wing – complete with lockers, commons, and an outdoor courtyard. In addition, they will have access to SCA’s current fine arts, dining, lab, and athletic spaces.

The Art of Living will be a signature two-year feature of the St. Cecilia Academy Junior High curriculum. The Art of Living class is aimed at providing a human, emotional, and intellectual formation so that junior high girls can flourish on a path toward true happiness. Students will be taught social skills, an understanding of the emotions and how to work with them, life skills and strategies for balancing the demands of life, organizational and study skills, how to grow in virtue and in friendship with others, healthy habits, and true happiness – all tailored for a girl in junior high.

Seventh and eighth grade girls will also have the benefit of service and retreat programs specifically for their needs, as well as new traditions that will include a father/daughter outdoor adventure and an Epiphany fine arts program. Fall, winter, and spring athletic teams will compete in both the Diocesan Athletic Conference and the Harpeth Valley Athletic Conference. Co-curricular opportunities will depend on student interest and will include forensics, robotics, MathCounts, Jr. Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jr. Pep Club, and Jr. Student Council. ◊