New Catholic middle school planned in Wauconda

WAUCONDA -- Plans for the area's first Catholic middle school will be unveiled Sunday by the Archdiocese of Chicago at the Parish Life Center of Transfiguration Parish, 316 W. Mill St.

Located on the Transfiguration Parish campus in Wauconda, it will open next August, in time for the 2010-11 school year.

Three parishes -- Santa Maria del Popolo in Mundelein, St. Mary of the Annunciation in Fremont Center and Transfiguration in Wauconda -- are joining forces to form the new school, which will house 150 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders who would have been enrolled at their respective schools.

Details, including the name of the academy, will be released at 4 p.m. Sunday by Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago, who will address the attendees via video presentation. Featured speaker will be Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, superintendent of schools of the Chicago Archdiocese.

Presentations will also be made by the pastors of the three feeder parishes and the school's Executive Planning Committee members. They will address topics such as student life, transportation, athletic programs and school colors.

"Research underscores the value of shaping a program geared to the needs and psychology of middle school students," said Renee Luhr, a member of the school's Executive Planning Committee. "Our goal is to provide students with both a firm academic base and a strong Catholic identity."

For more information about the school, visit www.lcrcms.org .