Pomona Valley Catholic Middle School opens its doors

POMONA -- The bishop for the San Gabriel region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Wednesday visited Pomona Valley Catholic Middle School students and blessed their new school.

Bishop Gabino Zavala stopped by the school on its second day of operation, Principal Adela Solis said.

The co-ed middle school is on part of the all-girl Pomona Catholic High School campus. The schools are operated separately.

Zavala, who celebrated Mass attended by the two student bodies, told youths during the religious service the new arrangement was a first for the archdiocese and probably will not be the last, Solis said.

The arrangement is a new model, said Kevin Baxter, superintendent of elementary schools for the archdiocese.

"We're really interested to see how it works out," Baxter said.

The middle school program will be monitored closely and, depending on how successful it is, could potentially be replicated in other parts of the archdiocese, Baxter said.

For the 63 middle schoolers who make up the new institution's student body the start of classes has been exciting, Solis said.

When the students arrived Tuesday, "they were just thrilled," she said. "All of them came prepared."

Parents were also enthusiastic, as many took time to attend the first day of class with their children, Solis said.

As part of Tuesday's activities, teachers took students and parents on a tour of their campus.
For the middle schoolers, part of the excitement involved having lockers for the first time, Solis said.

Students came to school with accessories such as shelves and baskets along with pictures to decorate their lockers, she said.