MT. VERNON — Sharon Wheaden-West is right at home in her first grade classroom at the Loyola School. Before coming here, she taught for 25 years with Baltimore City Schools.
"It's a big difference, our classroom sizes are much smaller," she said.
At city schools, Wheaden-West would have around 25 students in her class. At the Loyola School, she has 9 students this year.
She is also an ordained minister and the Jesuit roots of the school allow her to share her faith with her students.
"In public schools you have to keep that separate so it was awful hard when sometimes you wanted to pray with them or things like that," she said. "But here I’m free to be able to pray with them and free to talk about life and God and things like that so it just makes me complete as an educator. I can be who I am."
Perhaps one of the biggest differences is the year-round school model. Kindergarten teacher Melissa Walker thinks it's a big plus.
"It helps me see where my students strengths are and where I need to push them further," she said.
Right now, the school is taking up every available square inch at the St. Ignatius Church on Calvert Street while they wait for their new school to open.
"We’re so thankful to the church to house us but I’m looking forward to setting up writing centers and areas for my kids to be able to go and work and move around," said Wheaden-West.
They won't have to go far. Five rowhomes across Madison Street are being transformed into the new school. They were once used as housing for teachers at the all-boys St. Ignatius Loyola Academy, which is now in Federal Hill. Both schools were founded by Father William Watters, who also started the co-ed Cristo Rey Jesuit High School.
"[Father Watters] noticed that so many students going into St. Ignatius and Cristo Rey were 2 or 3 grade levels behind in English and math, and he thought let's get them a strong foundation, let's get them early and help them build," said James Fiore, the president of the Loyola School.
The school opened in 2017 with 18, 2-year-olds. Each year, except for one due to COVID-19, they've added a grade level. In the fall, they will add the fourth grade for the start of the new school year.
"While we will get bigger and have more students and serve more students, we’re going to make sure we have that tight-knit family atmosphere that is so important to us," said Fiore.
Parents who apply to the school are asked to pay a $40 monthly fee. The rest of the tuition is covered by donations and grants. Parents are also asked to volunteer 10 hours a semester, participate in workshops and commit to the Loyola School for eight years.
"Because we want to see that growth," said Fiore. "We have so much time to spend with them and help them build that strong foundation."
As the finishing touches are put in place at the new building, excitement is growing about the new possibilities.
"Knowing that it use to be homes, and then it was nothing, and now we see classrooms and the different spaces. It's kind of a dream come true and I’m blessed to be a part of it," said Walker.
Fiore said they hope to officially open the new building this summer and move the students in for the start of the new school year in the fall.
