At Jackson-Walnut Park our purpose is to seek God and knowledge in community guided by the Charism of the CSJ and the Gospels of Jesus. We intend to offer learning that is guided by the standards of the Gospel, fosters excellence, and holds ever important the idea that learners need imagination, intellect, freedom and responsibility, skill development and expression, self-knowledge and empathy learned in an environment where they are safe to take risks and self-aware and empowered enough to trust others.

We understand that as a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Saint Joseph we are asked to work toward providing learners the skills to make a difference and the tools to thrive in a world that will demand the highest possible level of problem solving, creative and critical thinking by fostering our community cornerstone values: unity and reconciliation, love of one’s neighbor without distinction, and reflection and action.

History

On the outskirts of Boston, home to several colleges, a hospital, a symphony orchestra, a widely-recognized public educational system, lays the large, complex and diverse city of Newton. Here two sponsored ministries, each with an almost 40-year history, attract students from Newton, Boston and many surrounding communities.

Sharing the CSJ mission and charism, a beautiful campus and numerous families, Jackson School and Walnut Park Montessori School developed a single strategic plan together. JS and WPMS have strategic needs and opportunities for improvement in three basic areas: facilities, systems, and advancement and marketing. Their preferred future envisions maximizing the resources available to each School through a single, stronger support system that will optimize the Schools’ physical proximity, reputations for quality, distinctiveness of the learning environment and values, overlapping communities and limited resources.

The two Schools historically have operated independently. In 2000 when the Congregation implemented a sponsorship model, Jackson and Walnut Park were placed under the governance of the Board of CSJ Ministries Connection, along with Merrimack Montessori School and The Literacy Connection. In June 2005, this Board decided, based on the recommendation of the strategic plan Steering Committee, that they should become separately incorporated under the governance of a single board.

Two months later 15 trustees were recruited and, on 1 September 2005, Jackson-Walnut Park, an educational collaborative was established to serve as the corporate parent for these two ministries. The Board of Trustees is eager to move into the future, knowing that they are building on a solid foundation laid by those who have preceded them.