Misson & Goals

Mission Statement:
The mission of Holy Child Catholic School is to teach as Jesus taught, instilling Catholic values, beliefs and traditions through quality education and Christ-like living.

At Holy Child Catholic, we believe that:

• Every child is a gift from God, made in His image and likeness, and loved by Him.
• The spiritual development of each child is as important as their academic development
• The academic success of each student requires a commitment from the entire learning community - parents, teachers, and administrators
• Effective education develops the whole person ….the spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional well-being and is fostered through a safe and positive learning environment
• The support of the parents, pastor, and parishioners is crucial to the success of our school and learning community
• The commitment and dedication of the faculty and staff allows Holy Child Catholic to provide a healthy environment in which students can learn and develop Christian values.

The AMIGOS Project: a mentoring process! The school's faculty and student body have developed a mentoring program allowing children to share talents and faith experiences. It is an opportunity for older and younger children to have periods of time throughout the week where they can share their knowledge, pray, study or play together in curriculum-related activities.

Past Goals:

Faith Formation / Catholic Identity: "AMIGOS" sparked the growth of true mutual respect for individual differences and talents. The project won the trust of parents who see it as a worthwhile experience for their children. Today most church related school ministries, i.e., greeters at Mass, ushers, altar servers, lectors, canters, etc., include an AMIGO assignment. Students look forward to working with their older Amigos' at Mass. The Amigo project has expanded to include ways to respond to the needs of the church as found in the diocesan mission effort in Chimbote, Peru as well as local efforts working with the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank.

Academic Excellence: The Amigo / mentor model has made it possible to use cooperative learning, peer tutoring strategies to meet teaching objectives across the curriculum. The Amigo spirit can be seen throughout the building in classrooms where older / younger students share quality time working weekly on projects related to religion, language arts, science and service.

Growth in enrollment: School families are proud of the Amigos spirit in our school. They have spread the word and have attracted new families with their praise. The PTG has an Amigo / mentoring program now that surveys school families in the spring for volunteers to be an Amigo family to new families coming into the school. They are available 24/7 days a week to answer school related questions.

Future Goals:

Faith Formation / Catholic Identity: the faculty through the Amigos project will continue to define activities that will help us profess our faith through prayer, witness and service in our school and the larger community of parish and church. Objectives will include special attention to fostering an amigo relationship with area shut-ins as well as service projects with parish groups, the Food Bank and global organizations that work for peace and justice in our world.

Academic Excellence: The Faculty will continue to focus on objectives that will develop reading and writing skills during Amigos sessions. Attention will be given to the development of a school journal and newspaper with the work created in the weekly Amigo sessions.. We will dedicate a portion of each faculty meeting throughout the year for development of Amigo project objectives for each quarter. We will also begin faculty in-serving to increase the use of technology within our classrooms by teachers, students and their Amigos.

Growth in Enrollment: Use the school's PTG produced "30 sec. TV commercial" video to spread the word that we are here to families in parishes without schools by making it available in those parishes, and watching for times when it can be rebroadcast during cable sale time. Seek opportunities to have Faculty meet with young families in parishes without schools either here or in their churches. Develop a network of parents who will see that the school brochure is available in every new housing development in these parishes. Continue to host activities and workshops that bring parents and students into our building.*

(*see "Where we Excel"). Continue to search for funding to provide Amigo Grants to families who find it difficult to pay full tuition.