Bishop Fenwick's New President Pushing Forward With Positive Change

Beth Callahan Editor

Bishop Fenwick's New President Pushing Forward With Positive Change

MIDDLETOWN, OH --Steve Strathmann, the recently named first President and CEO of Bishop Fenwick High School, took some time last Friday to share the direction he, his board and his staff are steering the Catholic high school towards in the near future.

“We are making lots of changes… and it's all good,” Strathmann said about the school that will be celebrating 75 years in 2027.

Fenwick, which is in the northwestern part of Warren County off of State Route 122 in the city of Middletown, is a regional Catholic high school with students from 29 different zip codes and 55 local grade schools.

“We are basically right off the highway... with very easy to access from Interstate 75,” said Strathmann, adding that not only is the schools location great, but the schools academics, sports and robotics teams help to draw students from all over the region.

While the campus sits on 66 acres, which were all donated by the Akers family, only 33 of the acres are being utilized, with the other 33 waiting to be used for future growth. “We are the richest archdiocese school in Cincinnati just based on the land,” Strathmann explained.

Currently, the school has 432 students enrolled. Strathmann noted that back in 2004 when the school moved to its new location on State Route 122, there were 547 students enrolled, and he would like to see the number of students enrolled increase again to that number.

Strathmann explained, "when we went into Covid, we never came out… so that is my goal to get us out...open up,"

For an example on what he means to "open up," he used Fenwick Graduation Ceremony to explain. Rather than graduation being held on a Thursday evening in the gymnasium, he would like to see it held on a Saturday at the football stadium, which is on campus just behind the school.

“I want it to be an experience... maybe food trucks and a VIP tent ... We are not telling people who we are...so one of the things that I’m trying to do is bring more focus onto the campus … not only the programs that we offer but also the programs that we want to offer," he explained.

Along with learning in the classroom, the students are encouraged to learn outside of the classroom through group study trips and/or mission trips, such as the mission trip coming up in April. During this trip, a group of students will be heading to Wheeling, West Virginia to help the people in the local community with different service projects.

"We are trying to encourage students and let them know it's okay to participate in more than one after school activity. They can be a football player and be in the high school play,” said Bishop Fenwick's Athletic Director Kyle Longworth, adding this allows for the student to become a well rounded individual.

To help the athletes get prepared, the school has teamed up with an organization called Dedicated Motivated. "There is more than just a weight room to get the kids prepared to play ball. There is agility, speed, jumping. We are limited here on what we can do, so we partnered with them to help our athletes," Strathmann said.

"We have also applied to become a Junior ROTC program, and if accepted, Fenwick would be the only Archdiocese of Cincinnati with a Junior ROTC program," he noted.

Along with Football, Fenwick offers its students: band, drama, baseball, softball, wrestling, lacrosse, tennis, swimming, golf, volleyball, basketball, soccer, cheer and robotics.

"When robotics began in the school a few years ago, Fenwick ranked number 2 out of 8,000 schools worldwide," Strathmann noted.

Currently, the robotics team works off campus, but future plans call for a new addition to be built onto the current Fenwick building. The expansion will provide room for both the Robotics program and the counseling program that currently meets in a trailer outside the east side of the building, called The Nest.

"We have a counseling program that features three counselors, who are contracted through Warren County Career Center. They are here every day, and they have been a godsend with how they work with the students,” Strathmann said.

Another idea Strathmann shared that he would like to see implemented on the Fenwick campus is to invite food trucks during Friday night football games and open the cafeteria so that families can come in and eat, as well as watch video clips of past activities from Fenwick.

Also, with the new ice skating rink that is being built in the Renaissance area in Middletown, Strathmann said they are thinking about adding hockey to the list of extracurricular activities.

Strathmann's goal is to make the Fenwick campus a place where students, families and staff are able to create positive life experiences.

For more information on Bishop Fenwick, click here.