Shine Your Light!
Through our challenging and comprehensive values-based curriculum, students are guided to develop an appreciation and joy for learning each day.
Curriculum Highlights
St. Lucy School offers a challenging and well-rounded curriculum, focusing on teaching the whole child. Instruction transcends the classroom as students learn social, emotional, and life skills that they apply beyond the halls of St. Lucy.
At St. Lucy, we value nurturing the whole child, and our social and emotional program excellently supports this. Our social and emotional curriculum, Second Step, begins in Kindergarten and is taught through 8th Grade. Second Step uses games, activities, media, and situational role play to guide students as they build skills in self-management, relationship building, cooperation, and conflict resolution.
Through the years, students build on these soft skills and learn how to deal with peer pressure, test anxiety, managing put-downs, gossip, and understanding different perspectives. Once they reach Jr. High, students learn how to set personal goals, overcome failure, and embrace challenges, while continuing to build upon strengthening friendship through recognizing serious conflicts, resolving the conflicts, and learning how to make amends.
Second Step tools go beyond the classroom and are impactful on the playground and even at home. Activities are sent home to be completed as a family, which supports the skills learned in the classroom and builds upon parent partnership. As educators, it’s exciting to watch students utilize the techniques they have learned when making decisions!
Students are introduced to digital citzenship starting in Kindergarten. The Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship curriculum focuses on six areas at each grade level with age appropriate lessons and activities.
The areas of focus are:
- Media balance & well-being
- Privacy & security
- Digital footprint & identity
- Relationships & communication
- Cyberbullying, digital drama & hate speech
- News & media literacy
Lessons are presented through activities and each area is built upon year to year. By the time students graduate, they have a strong understanding of being a good digital citizen and how to navigate an online presence.
Technology is integrated throughout the curriculum. St. Lucy has a 1:1 device program, allowing teachers to take advantage of all the wonderful learning applications and assessment tools apps have to offer. Teachers use educational apps as a supplemental tool for assessment and maintain a balance between paper and pencil and the use of technology.
In 4th Grade, students transition from iPads to Chromebooks as they begin learning to utilize the computer, learning to type on a keyboard and dive deeper into research.
Elementary students spend time in the art studio with our art teacher creating with a variety of mediums. They sculpt with clay, use water colors, chalk, and more. They also learn color theory, sketching, perspective layout, and balance. Beyond being creative and self-expression, students are gaining project management and time management skills, learning to pay attention to details, improve their hand-eye coordination and focus and concentration skills. Students have a sense of pride and achievement when they complete a project.
Students’ work is displayed in the hallways of our school throughout the year and also showcased in the spring at our STREAM Celebration.
Elementary students learn teamwork and create harmony, taking cues from others while working towards a common goal. They also strengthen their multitasking skills by reading msuic, watching the conductor, and performing. Students work with our music teacher to learn vocal technique, music terminology, general music theory, and confidence in performing.
Students showcase their skills throughout the year at our fall Fun Fest carnival, Christmas Program, and Spring Sing. Many students also join our school choir in 3rd Grade.
The P.E. program follows California state standards, and students learn a variety of sports and games. Through being active and playing games, students are learning teamwowork, sportsmanship, how to follow rules, and how to be a good teammate.
Over 125 science experiments are conducted in our Science Lab each year. Students explore science through hands-on activities, experimental labs, projects, and research.
The science curriculum is aligned with the State of California’s Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The NGSS provides a coherent progression aimed at overall scientific literacy with instruction focused on a smaller set of ideas building each year to the next level. The interconnectedness of science is taught throughout the curriculum rather than each field of science as separate entities, and includes the fields of technology and engineering.
In Jr. High, we have adopted Pearson’s integrated curriculum that aligns with the NGSS established by the State of California. This curriculum provides a significant increase in the availability of online resources to support and supplement the classroom activities. Hands-on experiments, visual aides, and projects help to reinforce concepts and teach science beyond the textbook.
In 6th Grade, students venture off campus for a week-long Science Camp in the mountains. They explore the outdoor classroom with an experienced naturalist by day and experience all the fun and responsibilities that come with camp as they make lifelong memories.
Spanish is taught by our Spanish teacher and begins in Kindergarten. At the elementary level, students focus on building a basic vocabulary of numbers, letters, objects around classrooms and town, and work on rolling their Rs. Students also spend time discovering the Spanish culture, learning about food, favorite sports, holidays, and even classic songs.
Our younger students quickly develop an ear for the language and are able to pronounce words they hear with great fluency. This head start also allows students to develop a greater comfort level with the Spanish language, giving them a foundatin as they move into our Jr. High Spanish program.
In Jr. High, students begin to conjugate verbs while they learn to write and have conversations in Spanish. Jr. High students develop a deeper foundation, preparing them for High School Spanish courses.
Pre-K
Kindergarten
Elementary
Jr. High
Resource Program
Early intervention is key. Whether parents are aware their child needs additional academic support or needs are identified by their teacher, our Resource Program provides the support they need to succeed. Our Resource teacher dedicates one-on-one time, as well as small group discussions, with students.
Student Counseling Services
Our students benefit from the availability of counseling services on campus. The counselor provides individual counseling, small group counseling, guidance lessons, and additional services. Services are centered around problem-solving processes and can help safeguard the well-being of a student. The school counselor works closely with parents, students, and faculty.