About St. Catherine Of Siena School
History Philosophy   S.L.E.
St. Catherine of Siena School is a Catholic educational community of students, faculty, administrators, clergy, and supportive personnel. Our program strives to build upon the work of the parent as primary educator, the Church community, and larger society that contributes to our students’ education. We believe in providing an environment in which faith, culture, and life are brought into harmony. The entire program at St. Catherine of Siena School is based on the fact that each child is a unique and unrepeatable gift of God’s love. As a result, each member of our community is respected and valued as one created in the image of God. We compliment the work of parents in fostering Catholic Christian values and commit ourselves to providing the academic skills that will allow children to realize their full potential. We believe that through dedication and concern, each child will mature into a loving, just, and responsible person. We are firmly committed to live and teach by this philosophy, keeping in mind the aims of Catholic Education as stated by the Bishops of the United States in their document: To Teach as Jesus Did: Imparting the Gospel Message, Building Community and Giving Service

There are definitive goals from six categories which the faculty and staff at St. Catherine of Siena must achieve to be responsive to the Bishops’ directive: spiritual, intellectual, psychological, sociological, physical, and aesthetic.

To meet the goals in these six areas, we have established the following objectives and the courses of action to be pursued.

Spiritual Goals
At St. Catherine of Siena School, we teach that Catholicism is a way of live, where each student has the opportunity to develop a personal, sacramental relationship with God and to experience a sense of lived Christian community. We foster attitudes of respect, justice, peace, and concern for all. We strive to develop in each child a knowledge of the fundamentals and sacraments of our Church; essentials of the formation of a Christian life.

Spiritual Objectives
 We hope to implement these goals by:
1. Witnessing as a faculty to the message of Jesus by our respect and concern for one another.
2. Encouraging students to participate in daily prayer with special intentions.
3. Maintaining high expectations of courteous, kind, and Christian behavior to be exemplified by our students.
4. Studying the lives of Mary and the saints as examples of Christian living.
5. Involving students in service projects that benefit world and local communities.
6. Students planning and participating in Masses, Penance Services, and Stations of the Cross.
7. Studying the Bible as God’s Word to us.
8. Providing opportunities to foster vocations and mission work.
9. Implementation of Character Counts! and its six pillars, Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Citizenship, and Caring.

Intellectual Goals
 Using Jesus the perfect teacher, as our model, the faculty at St. Catherine of Siena School works to develop the student’s intellectual curiosity, sense of wonder, vision, and love of learning. We will continue to promote the skills of critical thinking, reasoning, and making fair judgments; to make students aware of their own capabilities and instill the desire to strive for excellence. We recognize each student’s uniqueness, so as to make every student realize his/her own self-worth and dignity, and that their individual contribution is needed and valued.

Intellectual Objectives
 We hope to implement these goals by:
1. Furnishing quality curriculum, which is regularly reviewed and revised.
2. Providing an environment conducive to intellectual growth.
3. Fostering knowledge of fundamentals and encouraging good study habits.
4. Offering a variety of learning experiences that allow for individual differences in learning style.
5. Using practical applications of abstract principles.

Sociological Goals
Because it is so crucial that the people of our world live in harmony, we must try to create and appreciation and concern for all peoples by fostering in our students not only the acceptance of, but an appreciation for the cultures of other members of God’s family. We work to develop the personal skills, which will empower our students to make meaningful contributions in a multicultural society.

Sociological Objectives
 We hope to implement these goals by:
1. Providing the opportunities for students to share their God given fits and talents with other members of our school community.
2. Planning special multicultural events, so that students value racial and cultural differences.
3. Planning Christian service activities that deal with the issues of peace and justice as they affect not only communities, but the world community as well.
4. Working together as family, school, and church.
5. Providing opportunities for students to practice responsibility and leadership.

Psychological Goals
 The fundamental concept in Catholic social teaching is the recognition of the uniqueness and dignity of the human person. Human dignity and sacredness, present from the moment of conception, are rooted in the fact that every human being is created by God in his image and likeness (cf. Gn. 1,26) and is destined to be with Him forever. We work to develop in each student a feeling of self-worth, confidence, and achievement, and to help each student appreciate one another. It is important to foster self-discipline, and to accept the limitations of self and others.

Psychological Objectives
 We hope to implement these goals by:
1. Encouraging positive attitudes through praise and a caring, warm environment.
2. Developing a positive student self-image through a process of trial and error, risk taking, and personality challenging experiences, while encouraging students to have high expectations for themselves.
3. Providing activities which build awareness of special talents and our responsibility for sharing them with others.
4. Providing opportunities for students to work in small groups to gain interactive skills
5. Sharing our common needs, experiences, feelings, and dreams through cooperative learning.
6. Encouraging students to show good sportsmanship on the playground.
7. Encouraging a sense of humor.

Physical Goals
We hope to teach our students that good health, safety habits, and respect for the human body, including sexuality, are important to a happy life. We wish to impress upon them the importance of teamwork and good sportsmanship, and educate them to the skills necessary to participate in physical activities. The students will realize that physical fitness will improve their self-confidence and general well being, and that hard work and dedication will result in reaching their full potential.

Physical Objectives
 To achieve these goals we plan to:
1. Provide a comprehensive Physical Education program; which includes good nutrition and health habits.
2. Give students an opportunity to participate in team sports and individual competition with respect for individual abilities.
3. Provide regular vision, hearing, speech, and scoliosis screenings, and an emergency dismissal program.
4. Include instruction in substance abuse and the human body and its development.
5. Provide safety and earthquake preparedness education.

Aesthetic Goals
We strive to cultivate in our students and appreciation for the beauty of God’s creation and an appreciation for the fine arts. The students will explore their own creative abilities to enrich their lives.

Aesthetic Objectives
 We hope to achieve these goals by:
1. Involving students in activities to broaden their awareness of their responsibility in the upkeep and preservation of our environment.
2. Allowing students to develop their musical, artistic, and dramatic talents through various areas of our curriculum.
3. Providing field trips to museums, parks, and special performances.
4. Bringing selected events to the school and alerting students to others in the community.
5. Provide a hands on music program, including a part time music instructor.