Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, Benilde-St. Margaret’s will add a sixth grade to its junior high. This plan has been in the works for almost two years since Junior High Principal, Rikki Mortl, and interim BSM president, Meghan DesLauriers, first brought this proposal to light. President Danielle Hermanny was aware of the possibility of a sixth-grade addition when she joined the BSM community and continued talking about it with the board of directors. The board of directors made the final decision.
The school had received outreach from people wanting to know whether it was possible for BSM to add a sixth grade. “As we started in seventh grade, we were missing that transition year for those public school students. So I would say that’s where some of [the inspiration] came from,” Hermanny said.
The size of the sixth-grade class will not be confirmed until the enrollment process is complete, but it will not be larger than the current seventh and eighth-grade classes. “We’re not looking to grow enrollment beyond what it has been historically, which typically has been around 230ish in each of the senior high classes, and then the junior high total has been in the range of 250 or so,” Hermanny said.
The new sixth graders will be placed in the junior high part of the building, with possibly some classes taught in the North Wing. The junior high will be renamed as a “middle school.” As of now, the plan is for junior high teachers to teach the new sixth graders. “Until we know what enrollment we will have, we won’t know if we need to add any teachers or if we can fill that out with what the current staffing is,” Hermanny said.
The addition of another grade raises questions about how these students will be admitted to BSM. Ted Freese, Director of Junior High Admissions at BSM, says the process should not differ from how seventh graders apply now. “We’ll have students do an application. We’ll have them do an admissions test, and get a teacher recommendation,” Freese said.
The administration is looking forward to the sixth-grade addition and hopes that many families will take advantage of it. “We’re very excited about it. I think it’s going to be great, especially for public school families who want to get into Catholic education, because we’ll be able to come after fifth grade so they can come right into sixth grade,” Freese said.