St. Anthony School kindergartner Colton Fahey celebrates with his teacher, Teri Tavares, recently at the school. The school is planning to open a second kindergarten class next year. St. Anthony School photo

St. Anthony School will be offering a second kindergarten class next school year, a first for the 170-year-old Catholic school in Wailuku.

“We have had waitlists to get into our kindergarten, but without a second class option, we would turn away students instead of registering them,” said Tim Cullen, St. Anthony head of school, last week.

Last summer, the school had more than 35 students interested in kindergarten, but there were only 24 slots in the one class, he said. Based on current interest and the second class, the school is projecting 30 to 40 kindergartners for the 2018-19 school year.

The addition of the kindergarten class fits into the school’s efforts to increase enrollment. Cullen said the school plans to eventually have two classrooms per grade level from kindergarten to 5th grade.

“When we have two K (kindergarten) classrooms that builds toward two 1st grades and so on,” he said. “We have seen positive growth in our other entry points of 6th and 9th grade and expect the same results in our kindergarten and grade school, too.”

The additional kindergarten class will not require a major capital improvement project; there is room because the 6th-grade level recently relocated to form a new middle school campus, Cullen said. The exact location has not been determined yet, but the school is looking at having the two kindergarten classrooms next to each other, he said.

The final location will be announced at the school open house set for 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 27, the official kickoff for registration for the next school year, Cullen said.

Desks already have been purchased for the new kindergarten classroom, part of a “summer refresh” project, Cullen said. Additional desks were purchased for six classrooms in the grade school for expected enrollment growth. Classroom material costs have been built into next school year’s budget, he added.

Aside from the hiring of the teacher, there are no additional costs or fundraising events necessary to start the new kindergarten class, he said.

As far as the teacher for the new class, Cullen said the school has posted positions for new elementary teachers and has talked to some potential candidates. In addition to the kindergarten teacher, St. Anthony may need to add a 1st-grade teacher due to enrollment growth.

The current kindergarten class has a teacher and a classroom assistant, Cullen said. When the total kindergarten numbers reach 40 students, the school is prepared to add another classroom assistant, he said.

Anyone interested in teaching at St. Anthony School next year should contact Cullen at tcullen@sasmaui.org.

For more information about enrollment, call 244-4190, email admissions@sasmaui.org or go to the school website is at www.sasmaui.org. Private tours and shadow days for students can be scheduled throughout the year.

“I believe this is a historic event and the first time St. Anthony has had a second kindergarten classroom,” said Cullen. “We are here to serve the community and families wanting additional access to a faith-based, quality school program for their children. This generates additional options for this community, and we are excited to offer it.”

* Lee Imada can be reached at leeimada@mauinews.com.