AUSTIN — Starting next school year, all students from prekindergarten to 12th grade will be under one roof.

The Pacelli Catholic Schools board of trustees announced their approval of building unification for the 2018-19 school year. All academic learning for preschool through grade 12 would be located in the Pacelli High School building, according to a statement.

“Our building unification will continue to foster our close-knit family atmosphere and provide more opportunities for student to student mentorships,” said Laura Marreel, Pacelli Middle School-High School principal.

Currently, the high school facilities supports Pre-K-12 programming, and the space will provide Pre-K to grade six classrooms in the east wing of the building, and grades seven through 12 programming in the west wing, according to Jean McDermott, president of the board of trustees and elementary school principal.

This transition should not be disruptive since elementary students were already going to the high school building during the week for their music, physical education and art classes. Now, students won’t have to leave their building. The layout also allows grades four through six students to enhance science programming — who will be moving into the middle school science area — to allow daily science classes and lab experiences in a science lab setting.

Where it stands, Pacelli’s enrollment “still has the opportunity to grow,” McDermott said, and class sizes presently range from 15 to 22 students, and in early education 18 to 22 is the optimum class size, with the upper grades’ optimum class size between 22 to 25 students.

Pacelli also announced limiting the number of class sections. Once a class is filled, a waiting list will be established.

During the past 15 years and more, Pacelli usually had one section or class at each grade level. With the addition of the KPrep preschool programming, Pacelli saw some increase in enrollment leading to two class sections in kindergarten through second grade.

“However, this sometimes led to class sizes smaller than 12 students, which becomes financially unsustainable,” McDermott said. “Rather than adding sections that are too small to be fiscally sound, we will be keeping each grade to one section with a student limit based on the recommendations of our accrediting organization AdvancEd.”

“This will not impact student learning moving forward,” she added. “For the most part, it is what has been taking place for many years.”

Changing focus

While the format of the Pacelli school building will change, the “building unification” seeks to provide more opportunities to flexible academic planning, department collaboration and cohesion, according to officials.

In addition to the Advanced Placement class schedule that’s being offered, online AP courses with Lourdes and Loyola Catholic high schools and Program for Advanced College Credit (PACC) classes through St. Mary’s University will be available in the upcoming school year. Elementary students would have regular access to science lab, while the unification changes the focus of resources from building maintenance to educational advancement.

“Placing students into one building can eliminate achievement loss during the transitional years,” said Marsha Stenzel, Diocese of Winona-Rochester superintendent of Catholic Schools. “Interaction between age groups, and the positive influence of older students on younger students, strengthens the school as a community, a community of faith.”

Enrollment for the 2018-19 school year is now open.