Julie Billiart School

Welcome to JBS, a Catholic elementary school dedicated to meeting the needs of educationally challenged children!

Beginnings, Growth and Changes ...

Julie Billiart school was founded in 1954 by the Sisters of Notre Dame at Ansel Road, in Cleveland, Ohio to assist special needs children from grades 1 to 8 to attain their learning potential. After a few years at this location, the school moved to the Arter estate in Lyndhurst, Ohio. The beautiful mansion was not only an ideal location for the growing school, but also was easily converted into classrooms, offices, and other types of rooms for specialized instruction. Later three new classrooms and a gym were added on to the original structure.

At the beginning of the new millennium, it became necessary to embark on another expansion and a renovation of the original mansion. It was to provide quality educational space for the broadening curriculum and new technologies. This became a reality on May 13, 2005 with the groundbreaking event which took place shortly after celebrating our 50th Anniversary.

After summer vacation in August, 2005 the children eagerly anticipated seeing the changes in and around their school. They had seen the digging begun in June and beams erected forming a skeleton of the new building. Then they saw new rooms taking shape and gradually the finished results.

What a thrill the students had after Easter vacation when temporary occupancy was permitted in April of 2006! Now, in 2007, everyone knows what a blessing the new addition continues to be for every student and teacher!

You are welcome to visit our school and see the changes from "old" to "renovated" to "new".

Here you get a glimpse of the new expansion and some changes in the Arter mansion appearance. But, as you step inside Julie Billiart School today or soon, you will have a very rewarding experience in seeing the whole picture of blending the former mansion with the new wing. The exterior and interior of the new building illustrates a beautiful architectural design as seen in the atrium with a stairway leading to the second floor. The new classrooms with adjoining resource rooms allow for specialized instruction with small groups of children.

Can you identify these rooms in the Arter Mansion? The first one is the principal's office. Next is the new hallway and stairs leading to the 2nd floor. Then, what was once the drawing room, later the sisters' chapel, is now the kindergarten classroom in "full swing".