The Madeleine Choir School: How 25 years transformed a middle school into PreK-8

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How did a world-renowned choir school go from a modified middle school to a thriving Pre-K3-8 over a quarter of a century? The short answer: vision, leadership and faith.

The launch of the Madeleine Choir School in 1996 as a modified middle school for grades 4-8 was guided by a vision of preparing young students with an approach that would develop and nurture the whole child. Students filled the makeshift classrooms in the basement of the Cathedral of the Madeleine as they were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, theology, physical education, art, science and the latest technology. Add a music class or two and you have a balanced curriculum.

Fast-forward 25 years and you will find students at MCS continuing to be challenged to be the best versions of themselves spiritually, academically, musically, artistically, athletically and humanly.

“We seek to create a warm environment, especially in the early childhood years, where children can begin to form the foundation for a lifetime of learning,” MCS Director of Admissions Karla Padilla said.

“The progression of the curriculum at MCS moves students from those foundational blocks in their early years into study and discussion about challenging issues throughout our global community in their middle school years,” Padilla continued, “growing the hearts and minds of servant leaders, who will be positive agents of change in our world today and tomorrow.”

The landscape of schools in America has dramatically evolved since 1996. As more options become available for middle-school students to join the halls of some high schools, the Madeleine Choir School is pumping the brakes and restoring a middle-school model where they have a connection to their early elementary-school selves.  

“The middle school at MCS offers an environment that nurtures students through adolescence – one of the most important developmental times in their lives. Just by seeing the younger students in the same halls – reflections of themselves only a few short years before – these adolescent students are comforted with familiarity,” said Megan Randazzo, who taught at MCS from 2005 through 2012 before returning to lead the academic charge as principal in 2018.

Today, enrollment at MCS is nearly five times the original student body of the school’s humble beginnings in 1996. The increase has included the expansion of the school to Pre-K through 8th grade and the acquisition of a new campus in the 2000s, the progressive doubling of classes at each grade level in the 2010s, and the addition of 3-year-old Pre-K students in the fall of 2021.

“The model at MCS is one where Catholic education continues to thrive as more parents and students see the opportunities we offer in academics, arts, athletics and faith formation,” Randazzo says.

Courtesy of The Madeleine Choir School