The Foundations Program is a Marist community-within a community that supports seventh and eighth graders in developing their sense of self and meeting their adolescent needs.

The climate created through the Foundations Program aims to merge social, emotional, and intellectual learning for students at a critical time in their development. The overall design of the program and the everyday participatory leadership by teachers and students addresses two very basic needs: the need to feel a sense of significance and belonging and the need to have fun.

Five houses have been created, based on Marist missionary sites: Cerdon, LaValla, Lyon, Suva, and Wellington.

Each house is guided by four house leaders (two male and two female). The house leaders are all Marist faculty who teach 7th and 8th graders. The house leaders represent Marist's academic departments as well as a range of extracurricular experience. The house leaders have daily contact with their students for two years.

Houses are in friendly competition, earning points for service projects and participation in games. Students and House Leaders will work together to design these intramurals.

Each house is comprised of two homerooms which are organized by gender. Scholarship shows that boys and girls process and practice non-academic skills very differently. The gender of the house leader will match the gender of the students in the homeroom.

Students in 7th and 8th grades will be mixed in homerooms and houses. Each 8th grader is assigned a 7th grader of the same gender to mentor. It is our hope that formalizing this relationship will give 8th graders a sense of significance and help 7th graders feel a sense of belonging.

Foundations Fun and Service:

– The House Council, comprised of elected representatives from each homeroom, plans and hosts three socials per year (one per term).
– Foundations Games, held during first term, are an opportunity for students to build teamwork skills and represent their individual Houses.
– Foundations students raise money for the UNICEF children’s fund and other charitable causes throughout the year.
– Students produce a monthly newsletter, The Window, for fellow students and teachers.

What the House Names Signify:

– Cerdon, France, is where Father Jean-Claude Colin, the founder of the Marist order, had his parish and began the order of Marist sisters.
– LaValla, France, is where Saint Marcellin Champagnat founded the order of Marist Brothers.
– Lyons, France, is the location of the seminary where Father Colin, Father Champagnat, and several others originated the idea of the Society of Mary.
– Suva, Fiji, is the site of one of the earliest Marist missions. The Marist Brothers still have a high school and a boarding school in Suva today.
– Wellington, New Zealand, is another Marist missionary site. The Marists fostered Catholic education in New Zealand and still maintain several schools in the region.