Academics
St. Joseph Regional Catholic School is committed to developing faith-based students both academically and spiritually. St. Joseph forms a school community of faith, teaches the message of the Gospel, provides experiences in liturgy and prayer and encourages students in service.
The curriculum of St. Joseph Regional Catholic School acts in accordance with the academic requirements set by the Diocese of Birmingham and the Alabama Education Department.
The curriculum is enhanced with the following programs: Alphabetic Phonics, Accelerated Reading and Star Testing in both math and reading.
The teachers of St. Joseph have been trained in the following areas: differentiated learning, developing Understanding By Design units, examining disaggregated data to tailor learning, and uses of current technology for the students. Teachers also receive monthly professional development to continue their training.
St. Joseph encourages each student to learn, to lead, and to live responsibly in today’s world.
Foreign Language Program
St. Joseph Regional Catholic School offers Spanish as a foreign language for grades PreK through 8th grade. The course is designed to expose the students to vocabulary, conversation, songs, and traditions of the Hispanic culture. Students’ knowledge of Spanish vocabulary and Hispanic culture will be measured through various assessments including warm ups, class work, oral quizzes, group work, projects and peer work. The program focuses on the 5C’s of Foreign Language: communication, community, culture, comparison, and connection.
Chromebook Program
St. Joseph Regional Catholic School is committed to providing an education that enables students to succeed in a modern-day world. We believe the use of technology tools will transform the educational process and encourage more active student engagement in learning. Therefore in the spring of 2013, St. Joseph launched its 1:1 technology plan for 3th through 8th grades with it spreading down to the kindergarten through 2nd grade in fall of 2020.
The 1:1 Chromebook program has created a new way of learning for the students – and a new way of teaching for the SJS staff. The Chromebook continuously push the teachers to transform their curriculum, enabling students to have additional educational tools for learning. Engaging students with multimedia rich, self-directed learning experiences is at the core of tablet education. As the logical next technological step, Chromebooks have and will continue to complement our current use of SmartBoard technology.
Throughout the nation, research is showing the effectiveness of classroom Chromebook use in engaging students in learning as well as demonstrating increased comprehension of content. It is best to note that the Chromebooks are used as a tool in the classroom. SJS continues to use textbooks, with Chromebooks to supplement students’ learning process.
Accelerated Reader
St. Joseph Regional Catholic School is a member of the Renaissance Place Accelerated Reader Program. This program inspires students to read challenging books. The AR program is designed to individually encourage students to become more proficient in vocabulary and reading comprehension. For more information, contact Jennifer Hunzicker.
For the Renaissance Home Connect, please click here.
You can view and search for AR books here.
