CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Xavier Catholic Schools Board has announced the new location for its consolidated middle school.
Board members chose to purchase and remodel the existing Toyota Financial Services building, 5005 N. River Blvd. NE, the board announced Oct. 17, 2024. The site is in close proximity to Xavier High School, 6300 42nd St. NE.
The middle school will combine sixth- to eighth-grade students from LaSalle Middle School, 3700 First Ave. NW, and Regis Middle School, 735 Prairie Drive NE. The announcement did not include what will happen to the two current schools.
Xavier’s decision to remodel an existing building dramatically differs from the Cedar Rapids Community School District, which has used taxpayer dollars to demolish elementary schools in order to build new mega-schools, with no vote by the public.
Related: CR School Board votes again on two new elementary schools after open meetings complaint
Read more from the announcement by Xavier Catholic Schools:
The Xavier Catholic Schools Board has elected to remodel the existing Toyota Financial Services (TFS) building, located at 5005 N. River Blvd. NE in Cedar Rapids, with the intention to repurpose it as the metro area’s new Catholic middle school.
The goal of Xavier Catholic Schools is to transform the existing three-story, 109,000-square-foot building and surrounding 11.37 acres of land into a state-of-the-art educational setting that will meet current and future faith development, academic, support, and extracurricular needs of students. The facility, which has remained mostly vacant since 2022, would house Grades 6-8 in its intended remodeled capacity. The funding method for the purchase and remodel will be finalized in the upcoming weeks as the Xavier Catholic School Board discerns the best options. Xavier Catholic Schools will consider budgeted savings, donations, and a short-term loan prior to an anticipated capital campaign.
This decision marks the next step in an ongoing and extensive, multi-year process to consolidate metro area Catholic middle schools – with conversations dating back as early as 1998 shortly after the opening of Xavier High School.
“The decision to remodel the Toyota Financial facility to serve as our new middle school marks an exciting milestone in this new chapter of Catholic education in our community. This decision is the culmination of many years of conversations. In many recent conversations, a fantastic point has been thoroughly discussed. Throughout the history of Catholic education in Cedar Rapids and Marion, each generation has had the responsibility to shape the future of our schools by being visionary and making bold decisions in regard to our facilities. The time is now for a new generation to rise to the occasion and do the same. The mission of Xavier Catholic Schools is to form disciples unafraid to follow Jesus Christ. We believe this building and campus will help us carry out that mission even better for decades to come.”
~Chris McCarville
President of Xavier Catholic Schools
“Uniting LaSalle Catholic Middle School and Regis Middle School together in this space is an excellent opportunity for us to call to mind the reason why it is important for Catholic schools to exist and that is to form disciples of Jesus Christ. For students, the middle school years represent a pivotal time in their spiritual lives. By transforming this space into a Catholic school, we are creating a transformative environment in which students can have a more impactful and immersive experience as it relates to their faith development.”
~Rev. Gary Mayer
Xavier Catholic Schools Pastor Coordinator
LOCATION RECOMMENDATION & DECISION:
A Middle School location feasibility study committee, composed of 15 individuals representing metro Catholic parishes, school administrators, and a building expert, was formed in early 2024 and met regularly over the course of the past six months. This group was tasked with studying the options and providing a recommendation for a consolidated middle school for 6-8th grade students from the current LaSalle Middle School and Regis Middle School sites. The options consisted of:
Remodeling the existing Toyota Financial Services building
Constructing an entirely new middle school at a separate location The committee viewed both options as viable routes to effectively support continued excellence in Catholic education in the Cedar Rapids/Marion metropolitan area. On August 27, 2024, the committee made its official recommendation to the Xavier Catholic Schools Board to remodel the TFS building. The Xavier Catholic Schools Board officially adopted the recommendation to move forward with the TFS remodel in a meeting on October 7, 2024.
“We were fortunate to have two very good options when it comes to determining the location of a new middle school: Remodeling an existing, viable, well-maintained facility versus building completely new elsewhere. The decision to move forward with the remodel of Toyota Financial was the result of an extensive and deliberate process. In the end, we believe that reshaping this building and its grounds to our new middle school was in the best interest of our students, teachers, staff, and our greater community.”
~Brian Talyat
Xavier Catholic Schools Board Chair
The next phase of the process is fielding a donor feasibility study as it relates to executing a capital campaign to raise requisite funding to complete the remodel project.
While the goal to complete the remodel is August 2026, the final timeline will be contingent upon donor support and construction scheduling. The results of the donor feasibility study will ultimately dictate the final scale of the remodel.
As timelines and additional information become available, those items will be shared with the community.
CONSOLIDATED MIDDLE SCHOOL TIMELINE:
February 2023: A 27-person exploratory committee composed of pastors, administrators, and parish/school representatives began an investigative process to determine whether or not it was in the long-term best interest for the metro Catholic middle schools to remain independent or become consolidated.
Summer 2023: A recommendation that the Catholic middle schools serving the metro area should be consolidated was presented to leadership of metro Catholic parishes. A recommendation from a separate task force was also presented citing that all metro Catholic schools should become a formalized system (the schools have been operating under the Xavier Catholic Schools branding since 2013).
November 2023: Pastors of metro Catholic parishes collaborated and discerned the recommendation, arriving at a consensus to move forward with middle school consolidation. It was determined that St. Joseph Catholic School in Marion will remain a PK-8 building for a minimum of five years, at which time system needs will be reassessed. Pastors also arrived at a consensus to move forward with becoming a formalized school system.
Winter/Spring 2024: A Middle School location feasibility study committee was formed and began to meet regularly. This group was tasked with studying the options and providing a recommendation for the location of a consolidated middle school for 6-8th graders from the current LaSalle and Regis sites. This committee met regularly throughout the spring and summer.
April 2024: It was announced that the current LaSalle and Regis Middle Schools would begin to operate under a shared administrative leadership model in 2024-2025 to allow for continuity and alignment of administration through the consolidation process.
August 2024: A recommendation regarding a consolidated middle school location was made by the location feasibility study committee to the Xavier Catholic Schools Board to remodel the existing Toyota Financial Services building.
October 2024: The Xavier Catholic Schools Board voted to adopt the committee’s recommendation to remodel the Toyota Financial Services building. Xavier Catholic Schools initiates the process of executing a donor feasibility study which will dictate the final scale and timeline of the remodel process.
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