Academics

The curriculum followed at St. Patrick’s School is prescribed by the Archdiocese of Washington, and is in accordance with the state of Maryland courses of instruction. Our curriculum is a standards based program with emphasis on successful student learning through measurable objectives and benchmarks.

Areas of instruction include:

• Religion
• Reading
• Science
• Math
• Language Arts: grammar, phonics, spelling, vocabulary and writing
• Social Studies
• Art
• Music
• Physical Education
• Technology
• Library
• Handwriting
• Spanish

 

Homework Expectations

The St. Patrick’s faculty believes that homework is paramount for academic development. It reinforces and strengthens skills taught during the day. Children should be encouraged to work independently.

Quality homework is reflective of effort, neatness and presentation. Homework is averaged into quarterly grades. Although students will vary in the amount of time it requires to do their homework, the average time expected of the student is:

Grades 1-3     20-45 minutes
Grades 4-8     45 minutes to 2 hours

 

Archdiocesan Grading Scale

Grades K-2:
M – Mastery of content/skill
P – Progressing satisfactorily
N – Needs more time to develop skill
N/A – Not applicable in this quarter

Grade 3:
E – Excellent
G – Good
S – Satisfactory
I – Improvement needed
U – Unsatisfactory

Grades 4-8:

A – 93 – 100 %           
B – 85 – 92 %         
C – 77 – 84 %             
D – 70 – 76 %               
F – 70% – (failing)

 

Standardized Testing

The Archdiocese of Washington standardized testing uses online testing through Scantron.  Students are tested 3 times a year in reading and mathematics in September, January and May and once in April for religion.