The teachers and staff at St. Anselm Catholic Academy hold true to the school’s mission to treat every student and family with respect and to maximize the spiritual, academic, emotional and social growth of all students. The academy respects and acknowledges that every student is unique and every student is a gift from God.
Spiritual Growth Comes First
The spiritual growth of every student comes first. This is accomplished through daily prayer, religious education, events such as First Friday Mass, Rosary Rallies, Liturgical and Lenten celebrations, sacramental preparation and joy of the Resurrection of Our Lord at Easter.
The school community also discusses and reflects on monthly values such as faith, hope, love, charity, tolerance and understanding. In addition, the academy stresses the importance of emotional and social growth by building personal responsibility in its students. It fosters an understanding of the value of persistence and “grit” in daily life and in dealing with others. The academy imparts upon its students importance of taking the initiative to solve problems and the moral courage to deal with obstacles, setbacks or even failures. All of this is done in a supportive and nurturing way and is differentiated based on student age and grade level.
Rigorous Academics
Rigorous academics are stressed through the application of Common Core strategies in English language arts and math and across content areas in religion, social studies and science.
Reading and Writing
Specifically, the academy uses reading programs such as Investigator in PreK-3, OWL (On Our Way to Learning) in PreK-4, Super Kids in K, Treasures and Readings in Art in grades one through five and Scholastic’s CODEX in six through eight. Additionally, the school has a comprehensive shared reading list in grades kindergarten through eight. Students study the traditional foundations of English language arts via phonics, spelling, vocabulary development and grammar instruction.
This school year, St. Anselm Catholic Academy has introduced the study of Latin and Greek roots in kindergarten through grade eight. The academy educators have also taken the initiative and steps to continue to improve student writing in grades three through eight. A school-wide goal has also been established that every student in grades kindergarten through eight will independently read a minimum of 25 books of the student’s own choice throughout the school year.
Math
In math, St. Anselm’s Catholic Academy has adopted the Go Math! curriculum in grades kindergarten through eight and utilizes resources provided by the NY State Education Department’s Engage NY website.
A further emphasis has been made on “hands-on math,” modeling with math, coding in technology classes in all grades and the integration of STEM activities.
Science
The academy’s science instruction is supported by lab activities and the recent installation of a fully functioning 24/7 Internet-based “Weather Bug” weather station on the school rooftop which provides real time data such as current temperature, relative humidity, dew point temperature, wind speed and direction and historical data. The data is available in all classrooms via the internet and SMART Board displays and a free app on smartphones and iPads.
Social Studies
In social studies, opportunities for Project Based Learning (PBL) are available for all students. Middle school students have the additional study of contemporary topics of interest via the use of magazines such as Upfront! (a joint NY Times and Scholastic publication) and Choices.
In educating students, St. Anselm’s Academy wants it all! The school wants students to be college and career ready and prepared for the next academic step, whether that is the next grade or high school study. The academy believes the best and most successful path is via academic rigor, challenge and growth, but most importantly via personal responsibility, Gospel values and living a life in “the image and values of our Lord!”
