New building opened at St. John

The addition to the St. John Education Center opened in January.

The center’s addition will be used by St. John Primary School and St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, school spokeswoman Janis Ament said in a news release.

The new administration building for St. John Primary was officially handed over for use, and the media room and library along with additional classrooms became available to the church community for the Parish School of Religion classes, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults classes, and “many church functions that were in desperate need of more room,” Ament said.

Ament said that because of the rapid growth in Ascension Parish and the growing demand for Catholic education, the East Ascension-East Iberville Regional Catholic School Partnership was formed in 2003. The partnership included seven area church parishes and was later expanded to include nine church parishes.

The St. John Education Center, already in use by the Parish School of Religion classes at St. John the Evangelist Church, was designated the new home of St. John Primary, a member school of the East Ascension-East Iberville Regional Catholic School Partnership, she said.

The partnership accomplished a major achievement by allowing St. Theresa School to expand enrollment with the transfer of pre-kindergarten classes initially, and then followed each year by moving the kindergarten, first grade and second grade to the St. John Primary campus.

At the same time, the St. John the Evangelist Parish School of Religion was experiencing its own increased enrollment, she said.

“An ambitious campaign at St. John the Evangelist Church gathered the funds necessary to add a new wing to the St. John Education Center, in addition to the Johnnew media room/library, music room and art room,” she said.

The East Ascension-East Iberville Regional Catholic School Partnership contributed the money necessary to build the administration building needed for St. John Primary, she said.