Curriculum/Methods

Holy Child Catholic School has designed its curriculum to prepare students for the twenty-first century. We want the student to have a knowledge of God, which will enable him / her to respond to a rapidly changing society in a holistic way. It is the core of our existence as an educational institution. In addition to the formal religion curriculum, The Catholic Vision of Love, and AIDS instruction are presented by catechists certified by the diocese to do so.

The mastery of basic skills is crucial, but there is a significant effort made to challenge students to go beyond the mastery of basic skills and apply their knowledge through critical thinking and problem solving activities. Our emphasis is on participation, not competition, at every level of the academic, athletic , and extra-curricular phases of the child's day.

We offer a continuous progress program in reading and math which recognizes and provides for the differences in the individual's ability to achieve and master the curriculum objectives being taught. Continuous progress in these areas allows us to adapt the curriculum to meet the special needs of the individual learner.

Opportunities to assess how proficient an individual student has become at any level is achieved through a variety of assessment strategies including use of an all school Accelerated Reader Program, the DRA, NCS' Successmaker, Internet version, as well as the Terra Novas and diocesan assessment tests in reading and math.

We continue the work begun in the core subjects throughout the rest of the schedule including language arts (reading, spelling, phonics and English). Science, Social Studies and Math curriculum objectives are presented through a variety of strategies which include textbooks. laser disc programs, computer work and hands on activities. Our second language is Spanish but all students in 2 through 8 are instructed in the Japanese culture through a Japanese Internship program which we schedule every 4 years. We have had two Japanese Interns spend the school year at Holy Child Catholic. We are currently looking for a host family to bring the program back to our school.

Our school schedule meets the time requirements set by the state of Pennsylvania for all of the above as well as art, music, computer, health and physical education including a DARE program, and library. Our students benefit from testing, federal, state and Allegheny Intermediate programs that are provided when there is a need for the service.

The Pennsylvania State curriculum standards are embedded in the Curriculum objectives as outlined in the Diocesan Curriculum Guidelines for each subject area. The guidelines assure that students have continuity in the learning process and are able to move through the program at a pace best suited to their individual needs.

Efforts to more clearly communicate the curriculum goals and objectives to parents have been improved with the adoption of a new report card emphasizing specific objectives in the core subjects. This reporting system is a collaborative effort between the diocesan school's office, administrators and grade level teachers who met and tested it over a three year period. In addition we have student grades available in a Gradebook on-line for parent review at their leisure.

We believe that every child is gifted and every child has a special need! It is our Catholic vision to promote those gifts and identify the needs to help each individual master the specific concepts and skills presented.