Are all Catholic schools the same?
There are many benefits of Catholic education, but not all Catholic school education is the same. We believe that the ultimate end of a Catholic school education is to create lifelong learners in Christ who know, glorify and love God through the cultivation of Virtue & Wisdom.
If you are considering sending your child to a Catholic school, here is what you should know about the benefits of sending your child(ren) to an authentically Catholic school such as Regina Pacis Academy.
1. Virtue Education
Every month our students are introduced to a new virtue. Teachers use this virtue to integrate into their weekly lesson plans. They discuss ideas such as “What does an RPA student look like? How does he or she act? How does he or she interact with others? How does he or she dress?” We encourage the students to live this virtue out more fully by providing them with witnesses of this virtuous living through the lives of the saints.
2. Eucharistic Adoration, Most Holy Rosary, and Personal Prayer
As our mission states, we seek to “to nurture an intimate relationship with Christ as modeled by the Apostles”. We do this by helping our students to develop a deeper personal prayer life. Students spend time in Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament every week with their religion class. Students are also taught from the youngest age how to genuflect, importance of silence, and forms of prayer appropriate for Adoration. Our school community prays the Holy Rosary together on Friday afternoon. Students in each class take turns leading the decades. In addition, students have opportunities for Confession, receive visits from clergy, and start and end their day (and every class period!) with communal class prayer.
3. Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and Sacred Music
Students, faculty members, and families have an opportunity attend daily Mass every morning before school begins. Our school community attends Mass weekly. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass not only assists in the moral formation of our student, but, God willing, draws people back to or more deeply into the Faith through the beauty of the Church and its liturgy. Our students become acquainted first-hand with the great musical tradition of the Church, which the Church has called her “treasure of inestimable value.” As stressed by centuries of Church documents up to the present day, the foundation of this tradition is Gregorian chant, and students will study both the theory (a rigorous academic approach to the notation, rhythm, and modality of chant) and practice of this music. This study and practice come together at the weekly celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
4. Liturgical Living
The Church takes seriously the call to sanctify all things, even time. The Catholic significance of days and months is a profound reminder that our lives are finite, and that time should not be squandered. But more than anything, it reminds us that time is a gift from God, and with Him and through Him, all things are holy, and nothing is without meaning. In our classrooms. classroom activities, bulletin boards, artwork, and projects reflect the Church’s liturgical time (focus of each day, month, and seasons of the liturgical year). There are also additional prayer opportunities during Advent & Lent and other liturgical seasons to highlight their unique liturgical and sacred prayer traditions.
5. Feast Days and Lives of the Saints
One of our jobs as an authentically Catholic school is to hand on this Catholic heritage/culture/tradition to our children who are growing up in such a divided world. They are encouraged by society to live shallowly and compartmentalize - but we know life is so much richer when it’s lived as a whole. One way we integrate the Catholic faith into all we do is to help our students become acquainted with the lives of the saints and to celebrate their feast days. Throughout the week, students learn about each saint or read aloud together and ask that saint’s intercession in daily prayer. Our classes select novenas to particular saints that they pray together. We have special feast days that we highlight as a whole school with prayer, food, processions, and celebrations. Lastly, to highlight the Solemnity of All Saints’ Day, our students research their saint of their choice, create a project/research paper on that particular saint, dress up for the day as that holy individual, and present to parents and fellow students.
If you are considering a switch to Regina Pacis Academy for your child(ren), please contact our Principal, Kim Quatela, to schedule a tour.
