School to become Community Learning Campus

a multi-purpose community learning campus that will be called the Community Learning Campus at Saint Anthony and no longer serve as a school for children in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Saint Anthony, located in the Cramer Hilll section of the city, will continue its dual language Pre-K.

Students already registered for next year at Saint Anthony will be automatically registered at Saint Joseph Pro-Cathedral School in East Camden.

Saint Anthony is one of the Catholic Partnership Schools (CPS), which includes Saint Cecilia in Pennsauken and the other schools in Camden City: Sacred Heart in South Camden, Holy Name in North Camden, as well as Saint Joseph.

All families who register before Easter break will be guaranteed a spot for next year at their first choice of schools within the CPS network of schools. Tuition will remain the same. 

“Plans for the transformation of Saint Anthony into a new learning campus include new and improved programs that will allow us to better serve a wider CPS community of families and teachers,” said Frank Monaghan, CPS managing director, in a March 13 statement.

Plans include:

— expansion of the dual language and Montessori Pre-K programs (which already have waiting lists)

— Career & Technical Education (CTE) learning labs – paving the way for CPS to become the first in the surrounding area to offer middle school students a project-based CTE curriculum

— the establishment of a resource center for CPS parents and students that will offer tutoring, ESL (English as a Second Language classes), financial aid workshops and more.

— initiation of a collaborative workspace for CPS teachers to develop their skills as professional educators.

— the relocation of the CPS headquarters

“While this change will mean that Saint Anthony’s, as we know it, will be different, our leadership and staff are committed to guiding each family one-by-one to make the transition a smooth one,” Monaghan said.

“Hearing from our families is very important to us. Our CPS staff and administrators will be calling Saint Anthony’s families to answer any questions they may have, and we would also like to invite them to attend one of the following parent meetings to speak with our staff and administrators at a time that is convenient,” he said.