Gallery Walk Tour

Our full day PreK4 program establishes a strong foundation for learning in the early years.  The structured curriculum uses a variety of strategies and projects to teach the academic subjects including Religion, Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.  This program is designed to prepare our young learners to enter our Kindergarten Program with a solid foundation.

Kindergarten students develop the foundational skills in reading, writing, and math as they begin their academic journey. Students work toward becoming stronger readers and writers through their center based learning. The students are introduced to scientific inquiry and begin to explore geography, history, and civics.

Cathedral’s Pre-First curriculum is individualized to give extra support to students who need the “gift of time” to be successful in their academic and social/emotional journey. Pre-First students continue to develop skills in phonics, phonemic awareness, comprehension, writing, and fluency while building confidence. They also make strong advancements in measurement and geometry, working towards a stronger number sense.

Students use literacy centers and small group instruction that are differentiated by level, to enhance reading and writing skills as they work towards achieving personalized goals. Our students learn to read using a phonics-based approach. Mathematics is presented in both whole and small group instruction using multiple resources to meet the Archdiocese of Baltimore standards. Students begin to conduct investigations and make observations through scientific inquiry. Students learn cultural differences and characteristics of places and people of the world and learn to become responsible citizens. Through the basic foundations of Catholic faith, first graders focus on prayer and service in their community.

Students continue to expand their skills and knowledge with a heavy emphasis on language arts. Second graders focus on becoming independent writers. Vocabulary and spelling increase in difficulty, as do reading and math. With the availability of iPads, second grade students begin to use technology more often in the classroom to complement the more traditional learning styles. Cursive handwriting is taught this year.

In third grade math, students work in small independent groups as they rotate through several math centers. These centers include a teacher-directed center, a math writing center, a technology center and a hands on learning center that uses manipulatives and fun math games to enhance student learning. Language arts skills also continue to develop as the students complete a Roald Dahl author study and delve deeper into grammar and creative writing through the Words Their Way and Sadlier programs. Expectations for independence and organization are increased as students begin to master skills needed to become high performers in academics and beyond. The use of technology continues to expand as the students are exposed to Google G-Suite to submit assignments and complete classwork.

Students read many wonderful novels, complete a Kate DiCamillo author study, and express themselves through writing. Students’ writing skills increase as they begin to learn how to include quotations and textual evidence in their writing. In math, students create Google Slide presentations at the end of each unit to demonstrate how the skill can be used outside of school. Such skills include multi-digit multiplication and division, understanding fractions and decimals, and 3D geometric figures. Students take an in-depth look at the natural resources, culture and history of the state of Maryland in their social studies classes. They continue to develop their scientific questioning and begin to develop their own experiments to test theories.

The fifth grade English Language Arts curriculum continues to develop reading, vocabulary, and grammar skills through large and small group instruction. Reading and comprehension skills are taught through the use of a variety of diverse fiction novels and current non-fiction material. Writing is an important part of the fifth grade curriculum. Students are encouraged to write daily and leave fifth grade with the ability to construct a five-paragraph essay. In math, students are asked to apply their knowledge to real-world situations that use a variety of skills, such as decimal and fraction computation. Other skills include adding and subtracting decimals, mixed number operations, and analyzing volume and area. In Science, students are exposed to earth, life, and physical sciences in order to prepare them for the middle school curriculum. In social studies, students study European explorers and the early colonization of America. Critical thinking and analytical skills of primary and secondary sources are taught, in addition to the development of their research skills and knowledge.

The first week of school begins with a special prayer service to welcome all sixth grade students into the Middle School. At this time, students are excited to be assigned to their Stars and Stripes teams, a student-led organization that focuses on building school spirit and providing service opportunities. Students continue to deepen their questioning and text analysis skills through the use of the novel studies program and increase their vocabulary skills by identifying Greek and Latin root words. Sixth grade students delve into mathematical variables, expressions, and equations with emphasis on real world problems. In Science, sixth grade students examine the earth sciences through hands-on investigation and discovery, while in social studies, the focus is on ancient civilizations. Students participate in National History Day, which allows them to continue to develop their research and presentation skills. As a culmination of their servant leadership study in social justice, all sixth grade students attend a three-day, two-night retreat. The focus of this retreat is to instill self-confidence through a series of team-building exercises at River Valley Ranch.

Seventh grade marks a transition to a more focused preparation for high school. Students concentrate on different styles of essay writing and quantitative dimensions of text complexity as they read several classic novels throughout the year. In math, students take pre-algebra or algebra, while in social studies, students delve more deeply into world government and geography and participate in National History Day. Seventh grade students focus on life science as they conduct weekly experiments in the science lab and begin to write formal lab reports. Finally, at the end of the school year, students are given the opportunity to engage in a week-long mission trip to grow as stewards of our community.

Eighth grade students enjoy the benefit of being the leaders of the school. They begin to prepare for the high school application process by drafting and writing their high school essays and resumes. Students also partake in mock interviews in preparation for their high school shadow visits. In math, students are placed in either Algebra I or an Algebra I/Geometry hybrid class. In language arts, students are exposed to more classic novels along with current well-written works that will boost their love of reading. In social studies, students will focus on U.S. history; understanding the experience of many peoples and issues by analyzing primary and secondary sources. Science focuses on the physical sciences including real-life problem-based learning through hands-on experiments and discussion.