Art (K-8)

Art is everywhere! Art is enjoyable and satisfying for students. It enables them to learn many skills, express themselves, appreciate beauty, and have fun-all at the same time. Creative problem solving is always at its best in the art room.  Art is closely tied to all learning disciplines; including math, science, social studies, and language arts.

An art program is enriched by all other subject areas, and can help students to gain a full picture of how their studies all affect one another. Measuring a margin for a drawing, using recycled materials to make something new, learning about another cultures art style, and then locating them on a map, and understanding how the history, music, literature and art of a time period combine to define a culture. The cross-curricular possibilities are endless, and will always be explored!

Art is also about having fun, and expressing yourself. It is the place to discover the feeling of cool slick finger paint, the squish of clay, and the simple beauty of water color. Art is where mistakes are celebrated and everyone may have different ‘correct’ answer to the question. Artwork benefits all aspects of children’s development. It is the goal of the Art program to inspire, build self-esteem, and help each child recognize their unique special talents God has given them. After all, “God doesn’t require us to succeed, he only requires that you try”-Mother Teresa.

Basic Rules:

• Give your best effort.
• Do not disturb others, keep hands to self.
• Arrive prepared and ready to work.
• Follow safety rules.
• Show respect to teacher, other students, art materials, and the art room.
• Keep an open mind, value and appreciate differences.
• Make mistakes!
  

 

Challenge Program

The Challenge Program is St. Anne School’s program for meeting the unique learning needs of students with superior intellectual capability in terms of cognitive capacity, academic achievement, and/or exceptional creativity.  Qualified students in grades 1-8 will participate in a twice-a-week pullout program designed to maximize individual potential by challenging students to go beyond the normal curriculum activities.  Students will receive a grade for their Challenge Program work, which will take the place of the normal classroom work that they miss.

The Challenge Program supplements a student’s regular classroom experience by promoting higher thinking skills in a small group setting (maximum of 5 students) where students meet for approximately 100 minutes a week.  The goals of the program are addressed through projects that are designed to foster higher level thinking skills, the creative process, decision making/ problem solving ability, group process skills, self-concept development and advanced communication techniques.  At each grade level, classroom teachers and the Challenge Instructor will work together on integrated projects that will go beyond the boundaries of the normal curriculum.  

Instructional practices will emphasize:

• Depth and breadth of learning;
• Critical and creative thinking processes;
• Real world applications of learning;
• Goal setting and reflection;
• Collaborative learning and effective decision making;
• Responsible citizenship;
• Interpersonal communication skills; and
• Personal motivation and life-long learning

Latin (6-8)

Our motto for the year is “Repetitio est mater studiorum.” Repitition is the mother of studies.

Goals:

• 100 to 150 Latin words and phrases memorized
• 100 to 150 Latin derivatives
• 1st conjugation and irregular verb “sum” memorized
• 1st and 2nd declensions plus case names memorized
• History of the Roman civilization and why they deserve to be known as the greatest civilization
• How the Romans lived – eg. Homes, family life, food, entertainment, religion, and laws
• Importance of learning Latin

 

Library (K-8)

Every child should be introduced to the magical and fulfilling world of reading from an early age.  Reading builds listening skills, helps increase a child’s attention span, and helps develop an ability to express themselves more confidently and clearly in spoken and written terms.  Exposing young children to picture books will help develop an appreciation for the arts through colorful illustrations and different styles of art.  Reading to children on a regular basis will help develop a lifelong interest that will carry through the college years and beyond.  “A house without books is like a room without windows”.  – Heinreich Mann 1871-1950. 

My goal as the library media specialist is to create a fun, learning environment for all of the children at St. Anne School.

Goals:

• Be a good listener.
• Be considerate to both your teacher and fellow classmates.
• Talk with an inside voice.
• Treat property of library with respect.
• Return books in a timely manner.

Music (K-8)

Overview:

• study pitch, identify elements of music, listening and vocalization
• study and learn about composers of Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th century music
• perform and study theatre arts including choreography styles and all
• other components of theatre.

Highlights:

• An all-school Christmas Concert
• The SAS Chorus performs at local nursing homes twice a year
• There is a musical production every spring when we bring a little bit of Broadway to St. Anne's School.

Physical Education (K-8)

In class we work on:

• Personal fitness Challenge
• Team building
• Sportsmanship
• Presidential fitness testing
• Sports – soccer, basketball, volleyball, hockey, baseball, and dance

Special Events:

• Hoops for Heart in February
• Jump Rope for Heart in February
• Field Day in May
• Track meet against other local Catholic schools at Lancaster Catholic in May

Spanish (K-8)

The Spanish Class will use the VLPW (*) teaching methodology to make a fun and effective learning experience for the kids.

V    Visual                   sees and understands.
L    Listening              real Spanish teaching pronunciation
P    Pronunciation      speak with the right accent
W    Writing                 retention of language skills

 

Technology (K-8)

Currently, we have over 50 desktop machines and 30 laptops throughout the school.  We have a LAN, two servers, utilize high speed cable for accessing the Internet, projectors and SMART Board for presentations, and record school events with digital cameras, digital camcorders, document cameras and scanners.

Our computer technology classes meet once a week in the computer lab and the class size enables every student to have their own computer to work on. The computer curriculum is integrated with the classroom disciplines and the computer teacher works closely with the classroom teachers to ensure that all projects are relevant to their grade level. Where applicable, projects are designed and developed in a group. In addition to the regularly scheduled computer lab classes, students, at the direction of their classroom teachers, utilize classroom computers for specific classroom projects.

            Grades K-2          30 minutes a week
            Grades 3-8           50 minutes a week

Goals:

• Increase knowledge using productivity and multimedia applications
• Develop research and typing skills
• Raise awareness about Internet safety
• Foster ethical use of the Internet and of digital resources