Departments

Religion
The Religion program provides for doctrinal integrity. In the content of the authentic teaching of Christ and His Church, the school's ability to show continuity between the sacred and the secular is crucial. Children must come to see that the God Who speaks to us in the goodness of this creation and is known through Science, Social Studies, and Literature, is the same God Who speaks to us through Christ. In the Catholic school, the sacred and the secular meet; neither is excluded as irrelevant. Thus the student should be involved in the total reality of God speaking in all existence and man responding. Monthly celebration of the Holy Mass is for the entire school. We encourage parents to come and participate. Mass begins at 9:15 AM. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is scheduled during the school year, usually during Advent and Lent. Prayer service celebrations take place during the year. They are held to commemorate a holy day, national holiday, or special event.

Language Arts
Integrated Language Arts is being defined as the integration of reading, writing, thinking, listening and speaking. This integrated language development approach can be achieved by combining the curriculum of Language Arts with the Reading basal or anthology. The most important feature of the Integrated Language Arts has to do with the ways your children will benefit in their literacy development. Our goals are to help students:
-enjoy reading.
-develop a lifetime reading habit.
-improve their writing ability and their pride in publishing what they have written.
-learn how to listen and work cooperatively with others.

Each student will maintain a “process portfolio” and “permanent portfolio”. The process portfolio will contain writing pieces that the student is working on or has completed during the current school year. The permanent portfolio will be an accumulation of evaluations during the student’s school years. All permanent portfolios will include:
-publisher’s test results.
-one prose writing sample.
-one item selected by student.
-grades four to eight: one piece of pupil-generated poetry at each level.

Assessment items specific to each grade:
grade one story that includes beginning, middle, and end
grade two spelling assessment
grade three audio tape
grade four process or non-verbal assessment
grade five book list
grade six informational brochure
grade seven narrative poem
grade eight letter to the editor

Mathematics
Our Mathematics program uses a multi-text approach in Math for grades one to eight. Each grade has a list of the skills to be mastered. Reinforcement is given to those students who show weakness in a skill. Students who show growth in skills are challenged. Beginning in grade five, students who meet the following requirements are invited to participate in an honors program:
-Terra Nova Math score in the 90th percentile or above
-Terra Nova Reading score in the 85th percentile or above
-Cognitive Skills Index which includes 125 in the range
-Report card grade in Math of at least 85
-Favorable teacher recommendation
Parents are notified at the end of grade four regarding their child’s assignment for September. All students, even if not in Honors Math, are in an advanced curriculum.

Science and Social Studies
In the areas of Science and Social Studies, we follow the curriculum guidelines designed by the Office of Catholic Education. The students have many opportunities to sharpen their skills of observation, classifying, comparing, drawing conclusions, and other critical thinking skills. The Science program in grades kindergarten to eight is a hands-on, application-based curriculum designed by LabLearner.

Library
Students from each grade visit the library once a week for book exchange and library instruction. The goal of the library program is to encourage and foster an interest in reading and the use of ideas and information through the research process. The school library is open Monday through Thursday from 8:15 AM to 3:00 PM. Students may borrow books for a two-week period. Fines are not charged for overdue books; however, restitution or replacement for lost or damaged books is expected.

Music
The Music program encompasses grades kindergarten to eight. Each class receives vocal and theory instruction every week. Music listening experiences range from classical symphonies and operas to musicals and rock.

Art
The Art program is set up for the students to express themselves as individuals. Lessons are provided in the various media. The students participate in a program that includes art appreciation, theory, and crafts.

Fine Arts
A comprehensive, well-balanced curriculum is the hallmark of a competitive, quality education. The Fine Arts program will feature an exciting series of special educational experiences for each student, which may include exposure to accomplished artists, musicians, dancers, and actors in both assembly and small group workshop sessions. The Home and School Association provides funding for at least three Fine Arts programs.

Physical Education
The Physical Education program is taught to every grade once a week. In the primary grades, the emphasis is on the mastery of gross motor movements such as running, hopping, skipping, and jumping. The intermediate and the junior high program centers around the fine motor skills such as throwing, dribbling, catching, and fielding. These skills are learned or mastered by means of exercise and games. Other activities include highly organized games, physical fitness exercises, and self-testing activities. Every student is expected to show good sportsmanship in gym.

Spanish
A language period will be scheduled once per week for grades one to five. Students in grades six to eight have two periods per week and will complete Spanish I. Students will be graded in Spanish in grades six to eight.

Computer
Grades kindergarten to eight receive hands-on instruction in our computer lab once each week. Our program consists of word processing, a database program, telecommunication, writing and presentation programs. In kindergarten, first, and second grades, the children become familiar with the computer. They use programs to practice dexterity with the keyboard and the use of the mouse. Simple word processing and graphic design are introduced at these levels. In grades three and four, AppleWorks and PowerPoint are introduced to enable the students to word process and create simple multi-media projects. These computer skills are then applied to the curriculum areas, especially writing. In grades five through eight, students further develop skills in using Microsoft Office Suite, iMovie, and PowerPoint. They use these skills, along with Internet research, to create curriculum-based projects.