Mary, Seat of Wisdom School

Curriculum

Our commitment to an enriched curriculum means high-level classes with the extras that make a difference.  Graduating students routinely rank high on placement tests and continue to excel in high school.

• Small class size for individual attention and fostered friendships
• Art, music, and physical education classes, grades K-8
• Daily tutoring and homework help
• Foreign language (Spanish) instruction starting in Kindergarten.
• Regular visits to school library for classroom and personal materials
• Media Center with lab for instruction in media, research, and writing techniques
• Technology/computer lab regularly used for classroom and individual projects
• Instruction in PowerPoint and iMoves
• Special needs resources on-site—Instruction resources, speech and language resources, social needs resources, and occupational therapy resources
• Full-Day Kindergarten Program for enrichment and exploration of curriculum
• Accelerated Reader Program, grades 3-5
• Accelerated Math Program, grades 4-8
• Reading resource specialist Faculty Member, grades K-8
• Creative writing opportunities
• Annual speech contest, grades 6-8
• Academic competition teams formed for General Knowledge & Mathematics (Grade 8) and Battle of the Books (Grades 4-5)
• Additional music instruction—Band Program beginning in 4th grade, Suzuki violin instruction beginning in Kindergarten, and private piano lessons beginning in Kindergarten

Assessment

Mary, Seat of Wisdom School Terra Nova Test Results, 2010

The Terra Nova is a nationally normed test that is required to be administered at all schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago in Grades 3, 5, and 7.  While a standardized test is only one measurement of academic performance, the Terra Nova tests assist us in our instructional planning.  The results help us plan for individual children's academic needs as well as for the school's curricular programs. Individual results are being sent home Thursday, May 13th to 3rd, 5th and 7th grade parents.

We are proud to report the over-all school results below.  The scores are reported in National Percentile scores. This percentile score is not the same as a percent grade that a student receives on a classroom test.  National Percentile scores represent a national ranking. For example, the 7th  grade  math score of  86 means that the median (middle) score of the 7th grade students at Mary, Seat of Wisdom School was better than 86% of  the students in the country (who were in the norm group used to develop the Terra Nova III test.)

The Total Score Column reflects the scores from Reading, Language Arts, and Math.  Science and Social Studies are reported separately.

Parents often ask how our school’s performance compares with other schools. The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) reports equivalencies for the nationally normed achievement tests to determine if the individual private school is in the top 10 percent of the schools in the nation in reading and mathematics.  The test scores of Mary, Seat of Wisdom students fall well above the 90% range in Reading and Math in grades 3, 5 and 7.

Median National Percentile - 2010

Congratulations to students, teachers, and parents for all of their hard work this year!