A Values-Centered Catholic Education in a Co-Teaching Environment

The primary reason for the existence of a Parish School is to assist parents in the Christian education of their children. For this reason, Religious Education is the common thread woven throughout a child’s curricular experiences at Immaculate Conception-St. Joseph School. Formal instruction in both Religion and Family Life are essential to our curriculum. The religious formation of our children takes place in all aspects of school life from the time the children arrive in the morning until they leave the building after the last activity of the day.

The Immaculate Conception-St. Joseph School educational program uses an integrated approach. Curriculum for a subject area consists of skills, concepts, and values that are to be learned at each grade level. Subject area curricula are based on educational research, national academic standards, and the professional expertise of educators at the local level, while incorporating recommendations from the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Catholic Schools. Our curriculum has been developed to best meet the needs of our students and our exceptional TerraNova scores over the past five years proves that students are being challenged and enriched.

It is not only the rigor of our curriculum that allows our students to achieve their potential, but it is also the student to teacher ratio and the caliber of teachers in a unique co-teaching environment. The student to teacher ratio in preschool is 11:1 or less and the student to teacher ratio in kindergarten through eighth grade is 12:1 or less. Two teachers are provided in all classrooms from preschool through fifth grade. In preschool there is a lead teacher with an aide in each classroom with an additional floating aide for the preschool team. In kindergarten through fifth grades there are two certified teachers in each classroom. With two certified teachers in each classroom and an enrollment of twenty-four students in each class, the needs of all of the students are met with greater ease than in most other schools where there is an average of twenty-eight children with one teacher.

Teachers utilize the six main co-teaching models in their classrooms (parallel teaching, station teaching, alternative teaching, team teaching, one lead/one assist, one lead/one observe). Co-teaching is typically perceived as two educational professionals working together to service a group of heterogeneous learners. Curriculum development is an ongoing process. Each school year curriculum is reviewed based on student data. A particular subject area is reassessed and modifications are made to enhance the learning of our students. This revision can result in the updated materials, expansion of concepts, or the introduction of new teaching practices to best meet student needs. Our goal is to foster in each child the desire to become a life-long learner, to provide students with the skills necessary to find success in their educational endeavors and to instill in our children a commitment of God, neighbor and self through the teachings of the Catholic faith.