DAYTON, OH — Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School dedicated its newly constructed CJ STEMM Center during its grand opening held Wednesday, August 28. Dayton area STEM professionals and educators, alumni and partners came to campus to see how the new learning spaces would make a difference in the education of today’s students. Though the Center was planned and designed to support science, technology, engineering, math and medicine education, all departments will have the option to use the new facility, and every student will use the remodeled spaces. “The plans announced in January have finally come to fruition and the new CJ STEMM Center is just as great as our teachers and planners had imagined it would be,” said Daniel J. Meixner, CJ president. “In seven months we’ve been able to transform a portion of our 50yearold building into a breathtaking, leading edge learning facility. “Because we took a look seven years ago at where we needed to be in order to meet the demands of students preparing for college, and because there were alumni, parents and partners who shared in the vision of providing students living in the Miami Valley with a premier Catholic educational experience, we have an outstanding STEMM program for young adults and are standing in this beautiful Center today.” The CJ STEMM Center will be used by all students, most of whom take four years of traditional science courses. It also fully facilitates the school’s nationally certified Project Lead The Way biomedical sciences and engineering programs. Four years of curriculum are offered for each discipline and students can earn college credit. Facilities were designed to also support and enhance this year’s rollout of CJ’s Connected Classroom pilot program, powered by Google© — a technology integration initiative that provides members of the Class of 2017 with a Chromebook laptop computer to augment and support learning in all their classes. According to Meixner, CJ’s nearly $3.6 million investment in high school STEMM education is already attracting students and families to connect into the school’s offerings and early opportunities in STEMrelated fields in and around the city. “The Dayton region itself is a buzzing hub for the STEMM sector’s growing educational, industrial and career opportunities,” said Meg Draeger, CJ STEMM Coordinator. As part of a program that extends well beyond classroom time, Draeger builds and maintains many active partnerships with organizations and colleges such as Good Samaritan Hospital, WrightPatterson Air Force Base, the University of Dayton, Sinclair Community College, Wright State University and more than 100 individual STEMM professionals from a variety of local and global employers. “The Center incorporates modern industrial styling with furniture and furnishings that adapt to accommodate classroom, lecture and laboratory learning environments,” she said. “Spaces were designed with input from our teachers, and we took the time to research similar facilities in education and industry in order to best enhance current and projected teaching and learning styles. “The new science, math and engineering spaces were built keeping in mind the culture of higher education. As a result, the learning spaces feel like the environment that our students will experience when they attend colleges and universities, and eventually enter the workforce,” Draeger said. Amenities include: ● 10 adaptable lab/classrooms ● three teacher prep areas ● a fabrication and prototyping lab ● a distance learning center ● ceiling mounted projectors ● mobile teacher stations ● original building systems replaced — electrical, plumbing and heating systems ● central air conditioning system incorporated ● barrel-shaped acoustic hallway ceilings Architectural and interior designs were created for sustainability. Recycled metals and energy efficient lighting, heating and cooling systems are incorporated. A new white PVC membrane roof reflects sunlight to reduce temperatures and sloped ceilings in learning spaces take greater advantage of natural light. Dayton’s Pinnacle Architects and Shook Construction, which also developed the CJ Eagle Tennis Center in the summer of 2011, collaborated to complete the 17,700 square feet of renovations. Steve Budde ‘69, a longtime member of the school community and trained LEED and Six Sigma expert, volunteered his time to act as the project manager for CJ. “Our Center is the result of our community coming together and providing the best possible opportunities for students, faculty and staff not only for today, but for the future,” Meixner said. Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School is jointly owned and sponsored by the Marianists and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. The school serves 655 students and families from more than 50 zip codes who seek a Catholic educational experience and excellent academic opportunities. CJ became one of the first Catholic high school in the nation to be dually certified in biomedical sciences and preengineering by Project Lead The Way (PLTW) in June 2011, and continues to be one of just two dually certified PLTW schools in the Miami Valley. For more than 125 years, CJ has been located at 505 S. Ludlow Street, Dayton, OH, three minutes north of the University of Dayton, a fellow Marianist institution.
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