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.
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.
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 School 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.