Why a Preschool through Grade 12 Model?
Choosing the best school for your child is an important family decision and should be made after careful consideration of your family’s values, needs, and goals. Many factors drive educational outcomes including teachers, administrators and the attention given to the whole child. At St. Joseph Catholic Academy, our preschool through high school model provides unique benefits to your child and entire family that cannot be found anywhere else in our area.
SJCA supports our students and families along their entire educational journey.
St. Joseph Catholic Academy recognizes that child development is a progression, with specific growth stages along the way. Our preschool through high school educational model allows our staff to really know a student’s individual needs, learning styles, strengths, and aspirations. This knowledge allows SJCA to craft the very best personalized plan to guide your child toward achieving his or her long-term goals, academically, socially and spiritually.
SJCA focuses on developing the whole child, mind, body and spirit. Our students are not just building a strong academic transcript, but they are building a foundation for life. As students progress through SJCA, they attain the skills, habits and attitudes of moral leadership. Our greatest joy is seeing all of our students thrive, grow, mature and develop into thoughtful graduates ready to lead lives of meaning and purpose.
Our curriculum is designed for maximum outcomes, leading to college success.
SJCA has specifically designed its preschool through high school curriculum to culminate in high school where our hard working students are rewarded with strong standardized test scores, matriculation into the colleges of their choice and significant scholarship dollars.
We know that our unique educational model works, as SJCA consistently has some of the highest average ACT scores in Kenosha County. In addition, several years of data shows that students who attended SJCA Middle School score higher on the ACT than their peers from other feeder schools, often by as much as four points.
Our learning environments, instructional styles and assessments are comprehensive, cohesive, and seamless. Every transition point is studied, so that when your student moves from preschool to kindergarten, fifth grade to sixth grade, eighth grade to high school, and high school to college, he or she will be confident, prepared and ready to face the challenges ahead.
SJCA’s depth and breadth of knowledge regarding college success informs our curricular decisions at every academic level. Our 3rd graders through 10th graders take the ACT ASPIRE assessment test, which is aligned to the ACT test. The ASPIRE test not only assesses a student’s academic progress, but also provides SJCA with important, targeted data that is continually reviewed to enhance student learning.
Our Administrators and Teachers collaborate at all levels.
At SJCA, our team of inspired administrators meet regularly to discuss school-wide goals, review student outcomes at all levels, and make any necessary adjustments in instruction and curriculum. Our preschool through high school model gives us the unique advantage of looking at learning from the top down and from the bottom up.
Our administrators apply assessment results across the entire school, asking questions like: “What should be taught in elementary school Science so our fifth graders will be ready for 9th grade Biology?” “What concepts in 7th grade Math best prepare our students for AP Calculus?” or “How do the literary analysis skills taught in preschool build stronger Middle School readers?”
Likewise, our teachers collaborate across all grades, levels and departments. Our 1st grade teachers are aware of what happens not just in the Elementary School, but in the Middle School as well. Our 3rd Grade teachers are not just preparing our students for 4th grade, but because they engage with teachers at all levels, they are also purposefully building the academic foundation for High School success.
Students continually grow in faith, developing strong social and spiritual awareness.
Faith formation is infused in every aspect of the day at SJCA. Our students’ spirituality grows as their knowledge of Catholicism deepens. An articulated Theology curriculum rooted in Catholic doctrine builds from simple daily prayers and Bible stories in preschool to the study of Church history, sacred Scripture, the sacraments, vocations and discipleship, resulting in high school students with a mature spiritual framework for making moral decisions in a complex world.
The Eucharist is at the center of all we do at SJCA. Mass is offered at both campuses weekly and our entire SJCA community comes together several times a year in grace and unity as we worship together at our all school Masses. Even our little learners attend Mass, while our older students gain grace as altar servers, readers, greeters, ushers and singers.
The SJCA Lancer Value System is the touchstone for expected behavior in the SJCA community. Our students develop moral fortitude through eight core values: Spirituality, Humility, Generosity, Respect, Acceptance, Integrity, Accountability and Commitment. Both in and out of the classroom, these values are emphasized, modeled and studied at all grade levels, with students developing a deeper understanding of virtuous behavior as they progress through our system.
The SJCA environment provides exceptional opportunities for our students to learn from each other.
One of the greatest benefits at SJCA is the positive interaction between our students. Our older students act as mentors for our younger students. Familial bonds are created through intentional peer connections.
This multi-age student environment fosters responsibility in our older students, while planting the seeds of aspiration for our younger students. Both in and out of school, our older students look out for, encourage and inspire their younger peers. Likewise, our littlest learners enjoy watching their big buddies on the athletic field, at Mass and in the community.
Our middle school students get an invaluable glimpse of “what comes next” for them as they share common spaces with our high school students. From National Merit Finalists, to student government leaders, to stars of the musicals and Division I prospects, our younger students get a close-up, bird’s eye view of what a successful high school student looks like and how to emulate them.
St. Joseph Catholic Academy builds lifelong scholars, leaders and stewards beginning in preschool. Come and see the difference SJCA can make for your child and family.
www.sjcawi.org • (262) 654-8651 ext. 105
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