K-8 School

Accredited by the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association and under the direction of the Diocese of Columbus, St. Mary currently enrolls about 140 students. The average student to teacher ratio is 16:1.

Educational Program

At St. Mary School, every student can expect to learn the standards and beyond in these core curriculum areas:

Religion
Social Studies
English Language Arts
Mathematics
Science

Technology

Each classroom is equipped with SmartBoards, Juno sound systems, iPads, laptop computers and numerous other technologies to assist student learning. Our entire campus is wireless!

True Leisure

Many families in our culture today speak of busy, hectic lives. For this reason, it is important for us to model healthy and true leisure to our students so that they develop the skill to slow down, reflect, and allow their bodies and souls to re-charge. In addition, we believe that no amount of entertainment, relaxation, or distraction can ever be substitutes for resting in God. This is part of what makes our human experience so unique!

Lunchtime at St. Mary’s provides a specific opportunity for students to slow down and re-charge. In order to accomplish that mission and purpose we:

extended lunch, ensuring all students have the proper amount of time to relax, eat, and enjoy the company of friends.
use round tables so that the students can share a meal and life together in a more communal atmosphere.
encourage our faculty to join our students for lunch and to share in their interests.

In addition, several days a week we host a 10 minute administrator led read-aloud at the beginning of lunchtime. Our principal personally selects a book for each lunch period with the hopes of engaging the students in discussion and reflection. This activity helps students to focus on eating during the start of lunch, minimizing distractions. It also models the experience of true leisure.

Enjoying a book for the sake of a book and reflecting on its message and implications for our lives is a uniquely human experience and one of the main purposes at St. Mary is to continually cultivate what makes us human.

Special Courses

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Our kindergarten through 4th grade students attend Catechesis of the Good Shepherd once a week for two full hours. Their time in the atrium–a special place of prayer and preparation–is an important time where they can ponder and grow closer to Christ, the Good Shepherd.

Library

We offer two libraries at St. Mary School, each stocked with age appropriate and engaging literature and nonfiction books. Our elementary library is located on the 2nd floor and has lots of comfortable and bright space for reading time. Our middle school library, located on the 3rd floor, has ample table space for studying, homework, and group projects.

Physical Education

In order to meet Diocesan and State of Ohio mandated physical education standards, St. Mary’s utilizes heart rate monitors (HRM) for use during our physical education classes.

This equipment helps us to provide live, accurate empirical measurement of class activity, including: average heart rate; average maximal heart rate and average number of steps taken during each class. In this way we are able to produce class-wide (not individual) data that validates our curriculum and confirms our compliance with set standards.

Spanish

Our Spanish curriculum is an important part of our school, as we make efforts to include and welcome more of our local Hispanic community at St. Mary’s parish.

Music Arts

Our Musical Arts is taught by using the ‘Ward Method.’ The Ward Method is a classical approach to vocal music education designed for pre-K through 8th grade students. It incorporates the fundamentals of music theory, aesthetics, and voice production all while encompassing modern music theory as well as Gregorian chant.

The Ward Method focuses on singing as the foundation of musical instruction. Children learn to express themselves musically much like they do in the spoken word! The method makes no use of extraneous musical instruments, but relies instead on a child’s own experience with singing and body movement.