The Catholic faith is incorporated into the curriculum every day. Each day begins with a school-wide daily reflection and prayer. Prayers also occurs before snack and lunch. Students in grades one through eight attend Mass twice per week. Kindergarten attends once per week until January, and twice per week for the remainder of the kindergarten year.
All students are taught and expected to uphold the Gospel values of respect, honesty, responsibility, compassion, and teamwork. Classes participate in a weekly Gospel talk.
RELIGION Grades K-3
At this level, students participate in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, learning in an area called "the atrium". The Atrium is a sacred space (a designated classroom area) that helps the relationship between God and the child to flourish. Scripture, liturgy, salvation history, and sacramental signs provide the content for the program, with an emphasis on scripture. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd uses Montessori teaching principles to present the most essential realities of the Catholic faith. After each child is introduced to a “work”, they are invited to work quietly and independently which allows them to ponder their relationship with God, in particular, the love of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. The children attend the program once per week for approximately 60-75 minutes. This large time span allows students to actively learn and reflect on the teachings.
RELIGION Grades 4-6
The Diocesan curriculum for these grades focuses on helping children form a conscience according to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Students learn the basics of Christian morality taught in the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. A special emphasis is placed on the lives of the saints and how they are models of the faith. Each year, students become more conscious and active members of the Church through an appreciation and celebration of its sacramental life, and to experience and understand the rites of the Sacraments. Close reading of scripture is neatly woven in to help students understand how God reveals himself to us through tradition and scripture.
RELIGION Grades 7-8
The Diocesan curriculum for these grades encourages each student to encounter Jesus Christ and then to live each day in accordance with this deepening relationship.
In grade seven, the two main units of study are Christology and Theology of the Body. To know Christ well, the students use the Gospel of Matthew and other resources to examine Jesus’ ministry, His parables, and His death and resurrection. The second half of the year focuses on Saint John Paul II’s teaching on the significance of humanity created male and female in the image and likeness of God as presented through Ascension Press’s Theology of the Body for Teens program.
In grade eight, instruction pivots even more clearly to living day-to-day life as followers of Christ. An extensive Morality unit examines how to follow God’s law. An in-depth look at the lives of the Saints shows many examples of men and women devoted to His service, and finally Confirmation preparation clarifies how this final sacrament of initiation joins us to the mission of His Church.