Malden Catholic Adding 6th Grade For 2027 School Year

This Catholic school continues its rapid expansion it has been executing for the past decade.

By Benjamin Pierce, Patch Staff

Sep 11, 2026 12:22 PM EDT

MALDEN, MA — A local private school will expand its middle school division next year by adding a sixth grade for the first time in school history.

Malden Catholic announced that sixth-grade students will begin attending the school during the Fall 2027 semester, joining the seventh and eighth grades that currently make up its Ryken Middle School Division. School officials said the expansion comes in response to increasing demand from families and will allow students to receive a continuous sixth through 12th grade education at Malden Catholic.

"Adding 6th grade is an important step in extending Malden Catholic's academic mission to more students and providing them early on with the distinctive preparatory education that defines Malden Catholic," Board of Trustees Chair Michael Cantalupa said. "The new 6th grade is our response to the increasing demand from families who want their students to experience Malden Catholic's approach to academics, character development, and community as soon as possible."

The new sixth grade will be housed alongside seventh and eighth grade students in the school's new academic and athletic building at 50 Crystal St. Malden Catholic acquired the former Viking Seafood processing plant site close to a decade ago before turning it into an approximately 80,000-square-foot space with expanded classrooms, STEM labs and athletic facilities.

The building includes classroom space for Malden Catholic's middle school students as well as facilities dedicated to biomedical engineering, entrepreneurship and robotics. Athletic additions include the Donovan Fieldhouse, a more than 30,000-square-foot turf field, along with the Passacantilli Gymnasium and Grant Family Fitness Center.

"The addition of the 6th grade allows more time in our supportive community to cultivate Malden Catholic's core values of simplicity, humility, compassion, trust, and zeal in our students while building the rigorous academic foundation that will ensure they enter high school on the strongest footing possible, prepared for success then and throughout their lives," Malden Catholic President John Thornburg said.

Both boys and girls will be admitted into the new sixth grade under Malden Catholic's co-divisional model. Students learn in separate classrooms based on gender during the school day while participating together in extracurricular, social, and other campus activities.

The addition will extend Malden Catholic's current academic structure to grades six through 12. The school has operated in Malden since 1932 and offers programs including its SFX Scholars Program and STEM curricula. It is located at 99 Crystal St.