TEACHING RELIGION
Good Shepherd School is committed to a Christian environment of values and positive regard for all. Students study religion in their classrooms and attend a bi-weekly Mass. Our teachers and staff focus on instilling a strong sense of personal responsibility for how children treat themselves and others. They are taught a concern for community in such activities as daily prayer and service projects. In second grade, they have the opportunity to participate in the preparation for the sacraments of communion and confession.
GIVING BACK
Our students practice giving back in many ways. Each grade carries out a classroom service project. For example, first-graders make Easter baskets for children in need, and third-graders make sandwiches for Feed My Starving Children.
All sixth graders give back as members of our Service Club. They are assigned a job within the school to help with various tasks under a teacher’s supervision. Their roles may include teacher aides, kitchen scrapers, office helpers and recess patrols.
We also have school-wide service projects such as a Christmas season toy drive and monthly support of a local food shelf.
THE BUDDY PROGRAM
This program fosters close ties between students in different grades and supports our family-focused environment. Starting in Kindergarten, each student is paired with a “buddy” in a different grade for the academic year. Sixth-graders are paired with kindergartners, fifth-graders with first-graders, and fourth-graders with second-graders. The older students serve as mentors to their younger “buddies,” assisting them with class projects, reading and sitting with them in Mass.