The 3,400 square foot building contains classrooms for the sixth, seventh and eighth graders, restrooms and has an upgraded Internet connection for greater use of classroom technology at the Junior High level.
“It brings us into the 21st Century,” said Principal Trenna Meins. “And it creates a lot of enthusiasm that the school is growing.”
Bishop Gerald Barnes blessed the new building on March 28 at a festive gathering that included Meins, Parish Pastor, Father Benedict Nwachukwu, VF, school staff, students and parents. The building was named in honor of Meins’ late husband, Damian, one of the victims of the December 2, 2015 shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
“It’s perfect because he was such an advocate of education,” Meins said of her husband, who taught at St. Catherine of Alexandria School in Riverside in the years before his death. “We were quite honored.”
A majority of the approximately $1.7 million in construction costs were provided by the Shea Foundation, which has funded renovation and expansion projects at a number of Catholic schools in the Diocese. Meins said it was the Shea Foundation that suggested the building be dedicated in her husband’s name.
With the junior high classes moving into the new building, classroom space will used to add a Transitional Kindergarten program at Sacred Heart, Meins said, as well as the relocation of some office spaces.