Academics Overview
Our Lady of Lourdes School follows the Archdiocesan Academic Standards. These standards delineate objectives and learning goals at each grade level. The standards provide parents, teachers, and students with a template within which instruction is planned and delivered; learning takes place and is assessed; and progress is reported.
Accreditation
Our Lady of Lourdes School is accredited through Cognia.
Standards
Homework is assigned to reinforce skills taught in the classroom and to acquaint parents with the skills being learned at school. Projects are assigned to help students apply knowledge. Parents should review homework assignments nightly to ensure completion and accuracy. Credit is given for completed homework, and missing assignments can negatively affect the child’s retention of material. Teachers distribute information on homework policies at Back to School Night.
A good measure of your child’s homework is the "ten minute rule". If your child is in first grade he or she should average about ten minutes of homework each night. If your child is in seventh or eighth grade, he or she should average about one hour and thirty minutes per night. In addition, students should enjoy at least 20 minutes of reading time every day from a book, not a screen.
Homework
Learning Differences
Resource teachers provide instructional support in classrooms for all students. Students with diagnosed learning differences, and students with low-incidence disabilities receive support in the classroom, and through individual or small group instruction when appropriate.
Standardized Testing
Students in grades two through eight participate in standardized testing in reading and math three times each school year. Students in grades 3-8 take the Faith Knowledge Assessment in the spring of the school year. Students in eighth grade take the High School Placement Test.
High School Admission Procedures
• In November of their eighth grade year, students will receive a high school choice form. This form will be sent to as many as three Archdiocesan high schools if the child and his or her parents decide to apply to Catholic high schools.
• Transcripts that record the final grades and standardized test scores from seventh grade and the first quarter grades from eighth grade are sent, along with teacher recommendations, attendance records and a principal’s recommendation.
• It is important to determine a “good fit” between children and high schools. Parents are encouraged to schedule a meeting with the principal before the choice form is completed.
• Each private and Catholic high school has its own application form, available through the website or by calling the school.
• Eighth grade students should plan 3 high school “shadow visits”. Parents are asked to schedule these visits on days when there are no tests, or days when we are not in school. Students are responsible for all missed work.
HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST
Eighth grade students take the High School Placement Test at OLOL on a school day with their classmates. The test is usually administered during the first week of December. Many of the Catholic High Schools require the HSPT for admission, parents will determine whether their child will need to sit for this test based on the schools they are considering.