Academics

Accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Saint Peter School offers an educational program that embodies its mission to teach “to the heart, mind and soul of each child.” Through the school’s K1 through Grade 8 academic offerings, extracurricular activities, and service opportunities, students are guided and supported as they grow intellectually, spiritually, socially, and emotionally. Our gifted faculty teach and inspire students to love learning, think critically, question thoughtfully, and act compassionately and responsibly. Students graduate well prepared to succeed in their further education and in life.

At every grade level, teachers are focused on nurturing a child’s development in a supportive environment. Faculty members work together to create a curriculum that challenges, engages, and excites students. The academic program of daily lessons in language arts, math, science, and religion is supplemented by weekly sessions in art, music, Spanish, library and technology, and physical education. Electives such as coding, choir, and improvisational acting are available to students in Grades 5 through 8. Students are encouraged to excel as individual learners as well as collaborators on group projects. During events such as the annual art show and science fair, students demonstrate and share with the Saint Peter community the knowledge, skills, and confidence they have acquired.

As a Catholic school, Saint Peter’s assigns a high value to Religion class and spiritual growth. Through grade appropriate lessons, students learn to understand Catholic values and beliefs. Prayer is said in the classroom as well as at weekly all-school gatherings. Each Thursday students worship together at Mass, which helps to promote the school’s strong sense of community. Saint Peter’s welcomes and has long embraced families of all faiths or cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We are a community that encourages each member to live Gospel values, and inclusion is one of those values.

Beyond the school day, many students participate in a wide array of clubs—martial arts, cooking, engineering, computer coding, and French, to name a few. Our popular sports program offers volleyball and floor hockey. In addition, involvement in the annual play is open to students in Grades 3 through 8, and students in Grades 4 through 8 may join the choir, which sings at school Masses.
Students benefit from opportunities to perform service and to lead, including serving on the Student Council. As the coordinator of notable service projects, the Student Council encourages school-wide participation in these activities that speak to Saint Peter’s focus on serving others and the community. Following a much-loved practice, older students develop leadership skills through mentoring younger students, pairing with K1 and K2 students for Mass and partnering with K1 through Grade 4 students as “Book Buddies” during dedicated reading times.

Saint Peter School has high expectations of its students, and a look at the data indicates that students exceed those expectations. For instance, in recent Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests, eighth grade students scored well above the national average: more than 90% scored in the high and high average group in language and math. It is especially noteworthy that, for the second year in a row, in math testing 100% of students scored in those groups. Also, our Grade 8 students’ admissions to highly competitive high schools,  as well as the merit scholarships earned by many, speak to our students’—and the school’s—success. But the most powerful measures of success are the impressive Saint Peter graduates themselves, many of whom return to thank their teachers for preparing them to excel in high school.

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