SJCS Curriculum – stjosephcincinnati

St. Joseph Catholic School Curriculum

Our curriculum is in compliance with the Archdiocesan Graded Course of Study, which aligns with the Ohio Department of Education Common Core Standards. Our remedial services department accommodates the special needs of our scholars by providing reading and intervention specialists, a speech pathologist, a school psychologist, and a school nurse. Our school is constantly striving to make a difference and advancing in education is a top priority.

Due to our focus on advancing in academics, St. Joseph has been selected for a blended learning program through Seton Education Partners. Blended Learning combines small group instruction with computer based individual work to allow each scholar to learn at their own pace. It collects information about scholar progress and produces data that teachers can use to tailor lessons for each scholar. This benefits scholars dramatically regardless of their skill level. Based upon the results from other schools using blended learning, benefits are seen in many ways, including through standardized testing. We expect similar results through tests such as IOWA, CogAt, NEWA MAP, and OAA, which scholars take to evaluate their progress.

What is Blended Learning?

Blended learning is a classroom instruction model that blends:

direct instruction from a teacher,
collaborative learning among students and
individualized learning on computers or laptops.

At the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, Saint Joseph began partnering with Seton Education Partners to implement blended learning – the concept of data-driven instruction based on the integration of online learning and traditional teacher-lead instruction- in Kindergarten through Eighth Grade.

As one of the first Catholic schools in the country to commit to integrating online learning into its core curriculum, blended learning at St. Joseph consists of students spending approximately a third of their class time working online and the rest offline. Per the Seton model, St. Joseph uses a “rotation model,” where students split into sub-groups that rotate between:

Self-directed, independent study using cutting-edge online curriculum including iReady, Achieve3000, ThinkThroughMath, and Dreambox, among others.
Teacher-led small group and one-on-one instruction
Independent individual or small-group study offline

Blended learning has many benefits, including:

Individualized instruction: Students begin each online session by logging on to an secure, individualized account; our online curriculum providers recognize each student and deliver content and questions that push each student regardless of his or her level. Students who are behind grade level can catch up more quickly; students who are ahead of grade level continue to be challenged.Increased teacher effectiveness: Online content providers handle student assessment automatically, so teachers spend less time grading papers and more time with students. Teachers can analyze the data in near-real time and use that information to organize small groups for more effective instruction offline.
Reduced cost: The economics of education technology follows that of other forms of technology – costs continue to drop as products also become more powerful. Additionally, with half the class working independently online, the cost of a teacher can be spread out across larger class sizes while delivering more-effective, individualized instruction.

Important Links

Seton Education Partners is the organization behind our ground breaking Blended Learning program.
Joseph Catholic School is the oldest Catholic School in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
The CISE Foundation is a partner of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati This foundation ensures that a stable, permanent source of funding is available, now and in the future, to support Catholic education for less fortunate children in Cincinnati.