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Academics@St.Gregory The Great |
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Elementary School Program - Grades 3 through 5
Upper School - Grades 6 through 8
| Founded in the early 1900's, St. Gregory the Great School has a fine history of academic excellence. The Academic Program at St. Gregory the Great School provides students with an extensive education founded on Catholic Christian values.
As an accredited school, St. Gregory's meets the standards established by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges. We offer a comprehensive approach to learning employing the curriculum designated by the Archdiocese of New York and the New York State Board of Regents. Instruction covers reading, religion, language arts, social studies, science, mathematics, computer lab, music and physical education. St. Gregory the Great School also has a variety of extracurricular activities available to its students. These activities include band, ballet, Tae Kwon Do, and basketball.
Each child at St. Gregory the Great School is equipped with a diversified approach to learning, geared to developing the critical thinking skills necessary to question, apply, and generate information as an independent or group learner. We encourage a hands-on approach to learning, that is facilitated by the use of the school’s computer lab, science laboratory, and community garden.
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The Early Childhood Program at St. Gregory the Great School is comprised of the Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, First and Second Grade classrooms and is based upon a concrete, experiential approach to learning.
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Elementary School Program - Grades 3 through 5 During these years, emphasis is placed on enabling the children to master basic skills in the academic subject areas as well as optimizing development of each student's potential as a critical thinker. The classes in grades three through five are located on the third floor and they are primarily self contained. Fifth grade students will prepare to enter the Upper School Program by sharing in class trips, projects, and special assemblies.
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Upper School Program - Grades 6 through 8 The Junior High School classrooms, located on the third floor, are departmental. Junior High students prepare for the high school setting and schedule, as well as receive instruction from teachers that have specialized in particular subject areas. By housing the Upper School classrooms on the third floor, teachers and students can join together in projects making the transition between grade levels more comforting and familiar for the students.
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The Language Arts program, as dictated by the New York State Standards and by the Archdiocese of New York in Essential Learning Guidelines, incorporates the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. At St. Gregory the Great School, students are instructed in these skills through the Spotlight on Literacy reading program, as well as the Language Arts Today series. These programs stress the integration of reading, grammar, phonics and writing skills, to provide a unified approach to language development. Further enrichment is provided for the lower grades by the use of auxiliary materials such as literature texts and literacy support packages, as well as a spelling, phonics, and grammar workbooks. |
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The Mathematics curriculum at St. Gregory the Great School is developed according to mathematics curriculum guidelines for New York State and guidelines set forth in the New York Archdiocesan curriculum guide, Essential Learning. Mathematics employs a broad continuum of thinking skills, which become progressively more refined and sophisticated as students advance through the grade levels. Word problems sharpen students' ability to comprehend, analyze, and interpret data. Simple computation skills taught in the primary grades become the foundations of logic and reasoning used across the curriculum at the junior high school level. Sequential textbooks, which meet the requirements set forth by New York State and the Archdiocese of New York, are used throughout the grades. As is appropriate to grade level, teachers make students aware of the place of mathematics in their daily lives and of its importance in society. Junior high school students in particular are encouraged to view mathematics as a cross-curricular activity applying graphs, percentages, and other concepts to other subject areas. By developing a concentration on cooperative learning using authentic materials across the curriculum, students are challenged to use mathematics as a way of expanding their minds and understanding their world.
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The Social Studies curriculum at St. Gregory the Great is developed according to guidelines set forth by the State of New York and by the Archdiocese of New York in its curriculum requirements, Essential Learning. Heterogeneously grouped classes allow students to learn in an environment that more accurately reflects the world in which they live and in which they are regularly challenged to work as members of a micro-society. Students are instructed in the importance of learning from the past to prepare for the future and are provided with the critical thinking tools that will assist them in the technological world that will be their future. Students are expected to ask and answer analytical questions, research, organize, and evaluate information, and form rational conclusions. Such exercises assist them in using logic, reasoning, and reflective thinking to solve problems. While the Social Studies curriculum integrates itself with other subject areas, Christian values are at the core. Students explore the ethnic, religious, and national origins of world civilizations and develop a special appreciation for those represented in the school microcosm. Students are taught to recognize their role as members of a local, national, and global society and become aware of the role of government in the development of the United States of America. Traditional learning materials such as textbooks, newspapers, encyclopedias, documentaries, globes, charts, and maps are tools with which the students further their understanding of social studies facts and concepts. Faculty utilize the wide variety of resources that are available in New York City by planning field trips to the many local museums and historical sites. Student-centered strategies such as group discussions, class debates and elections, cooperative learning groups, individual oral and written reports, and games are common in the Social Studies classroom.
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The science program at St. Gregory the Great aims to provide the students with experiences to develop their ability to ask scientific questions; explore, investigate and experiment with the world around them; and facilitates the students’ communication of their knowledge of life, physical and earth sciences. Our science lab affords our students the opportunity to work both independently or cooperatively on hands-on experiments that allow for the use of a variety of inquiry skills including formulating hypotheses, identifying variables, predicting, experimentation, observation, recording and analyzing data, and making decisions in order to solve the problem. It is the aim of our science program to develop a science attitude of appreciating nature and valuing the use of scientific knowledge in the study of our world as set forth in the Essential Learnings for science. Our annual Science Fair provides the students with a forum to demonstrate their critical thinking skills, their understanding of the science process skills they have learned through the application of the scientific method, and an opportunity to communicate their observations and experiences. It is the goal of St. Gregory the Great School to infuse technology throughout the science content, and to utilize technology as a tool, a valuable resource and a process, thus actualizing the New York State technology standard.
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Students in grades one through eight receive computer instruction in the computer lab once a week. Additional time for special projects and instruction may occur in the classroom or in the computer lab guided by the classroom teacher. Computer technology is integrated with each academic subject across the curriculum. Kindergarten through Second Grades utilize our computer lab to reinforce concepts and skills in various curriculum areas especially in the areas of Reading and Mathematics. Third through Fifth Grades continue to utilize our computer lab to reinforce concepts and skills, however, students also receive basic instruction in typing and word processing through the use of Microsoft Word. Sixth through Eighth Grades participate in a three-year curriculum that allows for proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office including Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Students also receive instruction in the use of digital photography, computer scanning, and multimedia presentations. The faculty continues to expand the technology program across the curriculum to correlate with the New York State Standards in the areas of mathematics and science.
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Goals and objectives for catechetical instruction are determined by the scope and sequence of the text series selected jointly by the pastor and the school administration and faculty. Text conforms to the catechetical guidelines set forth by the Archdiocese of New York.
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All students at St. Gregory the Great School receive a physical education class once a week. The physical education instructor meets children in the classroom and accompanies them to and from the school playground. During extreme cold or inclement weather, the gym is utilized. At every age and grade level emphasis is placed on physical fitness and coordination, as well as sportsmanship. Students learn team work, fair play and physical coordination. Ballet and tae kwon do are offered as extracurricular activities through our Clubs program and basketball at the Franciscan Center.
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Music classes are conducted once a week for kindergarten through eighth grade students. Children learn skills that focus on rhythm, pitch, and musical notes through vocal instruction and, in the third and fourth grade, recorder instruction. Each grade works to present a musical performance for Christmas and in the spring. St. Gregory the Great School also offers weekly lessons for beginner and intermediate band instruments such as flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, drums, and bells. These lessons are provided by the Paul Effman Music Service and take place during regular school hours. |