Academics & Curriculum

Sacred Heart Catholic School  utilizes Renaissance Star Reading and Math, a standardized national testing program, to continually assess the effectiveness of our instruction and curriculum. A wide range of schools, both public and private, across the United States use this program. Students in Grades K-8 participate.  Sacred Heart Catholic School consistently performs very well on these tests. 

Teachers utilize practice programs such as Accelerated Reader and Freckle as part of their daily lessons.  These practice programs provide real-time assessment of students to provide personalized instruction at the correct level for each student.  In this way, inequities can be discovered and addressed.  Students can be celebrated as they accelerate and excel in learning.

Individual student results are provided to parents and may be used, in conjunction with report cards and teacher feedback, to indicate areas of strength or opportunities for improvement. Individual student performance is affected by numerous factors on any given day and no single test should be used to characterize a student’s overall performance.

Sacred Heart Catholic School is accredited by the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools.

We offer a rigorous academic program of core classes supplemented by age and interest-appropriate enrichment studies. Please refer to the curriculum pages for specific details.

Recognizing the different learning styles of our students, we utilize both traditional and innovative teaching approaches in the classrooms and with out-of-classroom support.

We regularly assess the effectiveness of our school performance relative to national test results. Sacred Heart students by their 8th grade year perform at university and high school grade level on all subjects based on nationally normed standardized test.  

Overview

Detailed Curriculum by Grade Level

Technology
 
Technology is utilized to support group and independent learning, as well as communication between school, parents and students.  Computer and application instruction takes place in a Computer Lab equipped with Windows-based PC's.  Classrooms are equipped with Promethean interactive white boards.  Classroom sets of iPads and Chromebooks are used to support learning.  Middle School students have STREAM (science, technology, religion, engineering, art and math) integrated into their math and science classes. 

Communication

Clear communication between home and school is important for student success.  SHS teachers maintain classroom web sites with information on activities and assignments.  FACTS Family Portal provides parents (and older students) timely information to support student progress.  Bi-weekly electronic "Green Envelope" school newsletters are used to keep parents informed of events and announcements while minimizing the paper students bring home.  Personal communication is also important.  Parents have access to staff email and are always welcome to schedule appointments with teachers or support staff.

Field Trips

Field trips are recognized as an integral part of a sound educational program and provide a valuable addition to the classroom curriculum.  They provide students with opportunities to expand their real world experiences and cultural horizons.  (more...)

Learning Labs

Sacred Heart School provides learning labs to help support learning at the middle school level.  Students who do not understand a concept or how to complete an assignment may come to the learning lab to get additional individualized support. 

Instructional Intervention

Grading Scale  

FACTS, an on-line grade book tool is used to facilitate communication with parents on student progress.  Grades are updated weekly and parents are encouraged to go online to see their child's progress. 

Report cards are available to view online at the end of each quarter.

Honor roll is established each quarter naming those students in grades 5-8 who have demonstrated academic excellence accompanied by consistent effort and good conduct.