At St. Mary’s School, the Catholic faith is integrated in all we do. We are fortunate to have our school connected directly to St. Mary’s church. St. Mary’s students participate in prayer and various religious experiences each day. Our entire staff is dedicated to partnering with parents in order to develop each child’s mind, body, and spirit. St. Mary’s School is one big family, and that comforting atmosphere is apparent when you walk through our doors.
Prayer is a big part of our day. Each morning starts with all-school announcements and prayer. Individual classrooms also have an opening prayer, where students are able to pray for personal intentions aloud, or in their hearts. We say Grace Before Meals before lunch in our own classroom, and the entire lunchroom pauses to pray Grace After Meals before being dismissed for recess. We close our day with a prayer as well. Our end of the day prayer is reflective of our day, and also for a safe journey home.
In our homerooms, we have religion class each day. We use RCL Benziger Blest Are We curriculum in Grades K-1 and 3-6. This curriculum teaches students grade level appropriate bible stories, prayers and beliefs, Catholic traditions, and Catholic Saints. Second grade is a very special year for our Stars as they receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. They have a unique religion curriculum from Dynamic Catholic called Blessed. Religion is a special time for all classrooms, and lends itself towards many great discussions and life lessons. All students learn about the Catholic faith, in addition to the importance of living their lives to serve Christ in all that they do.
We also have a few special prayer traditions that are exclusive to our school. St. Mary’s is located near Regional Medical Center, so we often hear the ambulance come and go from the hospital. In this event, we all immediately pause and say a Hail Mary. We have paused conversations, tests, and recess to stop and pray for the individual, their family, and the medical staff that will care for them. In happier times, when special members of our community visit our school (Grandparents Day, High School State events, etc), our whole school sings a Blessing Song to pray over that person or group of people. It is a special moment when you can especially feel the presence of God in our building.
Our whole school is a faith community, and that is important to everyone here at St. Mary’s. Each Friday morning, we gather as a school and church community to celebrate mass. The kindergarten through sixth grade classes all take turns hosting mass each week. It is a proud moment for each student when they have the opportunity to have a special role in mass. Hearing over 200 children sing praise to God is an amazing way to end our week together.
In addition to weekly mass, our whole school gathers often during holy times in our church, like Advent and Lent. Each week of Advent we gather in the halls to have an all-school prayer service and light each candle on the Advent Wreath together. Throughout Lent, we gather to recite the rosary and pray the Stations of the Cross together each week. These holy seasons provide many memorable experiences for our students.
Another way our school faith community unites itself is through Faith Families. Faith Families are multi-aged groups that provide students with a unique opportunity to participate in service projects and activities with students from all grade levels. Our 6th graders make wonderful leaders for our littlest Stars to look up to. Faith Families meeting 4-6 times throughout the school year.
As you can tell, St. Mary’s School is filled with numerous opportunities for your son or daughter to strengthen their Catholic faith.
Faith Resource: St. Mary’s Prayers, Beliefs and Practices
Our kids love the culture at St. Mary's. They look forward to taking their turns speaking and singing in mass, they enjoy the tradition of Faith Families and they say that St. Mary's has the best food!
Ben & Erin Quint