St. John’s is an accredited school through AdvancEd (now Cognia), along with all schools in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. St. John’s has also worked with the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend to develop our specific Diocesan Curriculum, followed at all of our diocesan schools.  The Diocesan Curriculum is aligned with the Indiana Academic Standards, but also reflects our Catholic faith and shows our commitment to ongoing excellence. Ongoing assessments help us implement the curriculum, including NWEA testing offered three times a year as formative assessment, and the Indiana State tests, including ILEARN and IREAD-3.

Religion: 

Alive in Christ, developed by Our Sunday Visitor, is used in grades first through eighth and Alleluia!, also written by Our Sunday Visitor, is used in Kindergarten.  The Alive in Christ series forms Catholic identity and leads both children and families to Christ.  Our Catholic students in the second grade will participate in First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion while those in the eighth grade will receive the sacrament of Confirmation.  Students attend Mass twice a week and PreK students progress to attending Mass at least once a week by the end of quarter 3.  Students will have the opportunity to participate in the Mass as servers, lectors, and gift bearers, attend Eucharistic Adoration, pray the rosary as a class and as a school community, and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Advent and Lent during a school penance service.  

Special Area Classes: 

Beginning in Pre-Kindergarten, our students are offered different specialty classes each day, including maker/computer lab, physical education, music, art, and library.  

Resource: 

St. John’s offers a resource program to assist students who need additional services.  Our resource teachers works with the homeroom teachers and parents to make sure that the needs of all students are being met on a daily basis.  Students with documented learning differences can receive accommodations and modifications to ensure academic success.

Elementary: 

Classes in grades pre-kindergarten through fifth grade are self-contained, except for the special area class or classes they participate in during the week.  Students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten begin to build their reading skills and math foundations.  They also begin working on their handwriting skills which will develop into cursive in the second grade and continue through fifth grade. Students in all elementary classes will focus on religion, reading, math, science, phonics, spelling, language, social studies, and writing.  Homework is assigned nightly to help students continue to learn and master the skills needed to achieve academic success. 

Junior High:

Students in grade six will begin to switch classes and experience having multiple teachers throughout the day.  As the students move between classrooms, each class will begin the period with prayer. Time is spent on organization, note taking, and time management skills.  Our curriculum assures that our students will be well prepared for high school with our focus on religion, science, literature, language, social studies, and math, with Algebra being offered in the eighth grade.