Detroit Catholic Central High School recently announced it will launch a $1 million upgrade to the school’s Learning Strategies Center and Media Center, providing students with increased space for collaborative learning and continuing an overall effort to provide state-of-the-art facilities for the school’s more than 900 students.

The Media Center has evolved from a traditional library to a collaborative learning space over the past few years. The adjacent Learning Strategies Center (LSC), which was launched in 2012 to empower students to improve in areas of organization, time management, test-taking strategies, and note taking, has also changed. In addition to working with students on these crucial learning strategies, the LSC has also begun to provide some accommodations for students with individual learning plans, such as extended time on exams.
Construction will begin in late May and conclude in time for the start of the 2021-22 school year.

“Both public and private schools continue to upgrade facilities to provide students the best education possible,” said Catholic Central Principal Fr. Patrick Fulton, CSB. “Our vision as a school is to always stay one step ahead when it comes to creating a world-class educational environment. Facility improvements such as the Media Center and LSC initiative will strengthen our ability to serve our students’ evolving learning needs.”

The current layout of the LSC and Media Center includes more than 6,000 square feet of space, dedicated to a variety of traditional and high-tech educational tools. The redesign will increase the amount of space dedicated to group projects, team learning, and tutoring programs in the Media Center, while creating more breakout space for the LSC to work with students. 

One of the key components of academic life at Catholic Central is additional support outside of the classroom, whether through official or unofficial methods. The Shamrock Study Hall program, for example, began as a way to provide support to students who were identified as being “at risk” academically. It has evolved into being an option for any students interested in extra help in a specific subject, at no extra cost to the family. The renovated Media Center will allow this program, and others like it, to continue to grow.

The Media Center renovation and LSC expansion project is the second major initiative in the last year for the school, following the improved school entrance on Wixom Road that was completed in the fall of 2020. A point of pride for the school is that both projects have been funded through private donations, rather than tuition money. 

“We are incredibly grateful for the generous donations from members of the Catholic Central community,” said Ed Turek ’85, president of Catholic Central. “Maintaining a world class educational facility supporting our efforts to teach goodness, knowledge and discipline to these fine young men takes a group effort. We are truly blessed to have families willing to support our mission.”