Whole Child

In Celebration of The Whole Child, the Bishop’s Academy at Most Holy Rosary began the school year with several initiatives to enhance the current programs in place.

In the classroom, teachers began with the literacy based instructional program, using disseminated data from recent test scores, to provide data driven instruction to increase student achievement for all learners. With the help of the school’s full time reading specialist, teachers are able to create individualized programs to meet the needs of each student. We are providing both remediation and enrichment. 

As part of our staff development programs, teachers have been completing workshops necessary for teaching with our new interactive white boards. These state of the art Smart Boards will allow students to learn using the interactive tools of the future. Everyone is looking forward to their arrival!

Since some of our classrooms don’t have walls, students have taken on the challenges of healthy living by signing up for the various after school activities offered at Most Holy Rosary.
Karate, with CNY Karate, has proven to be a huge success! Zumba, with Silhouettes, is a fitness dance class scheduled to begin shortly. And before long, the Parochial and Primary League Basketball programs will begin for all students in Pre-K through 6th grade.

Art

All students have class with Mr. Montague twice a week.  In this classroom we learn that art is half composition (how the artist fills the space) and half expression (what is personal about the work to the artist). We learn many techniques on how to create well thought out, asymmetrical compositions; understanding colors, line quality, repetition of shapes and so on.

As an incentive for the class to work hard we do a lot of “absurd” activities such as standing on chairs, mimicking the artwork we study, or making a face that no one has ever made before.  These acts not only put a lot of fun into the art room but also bring out the personality of each student.

We study a lot of art history to help inspire our work.  There is a wide variety of what is considered art in this world and if we get stuck on not being able to draw we will miss most of it. We study a lot of famous artists that don’t draw or paint.  Students (especially in the upper grades) can often identify the artist of work they have never seen before.  Art history is also a good way to bring religion into our room.  The Bible is often told through art, through paintings, stained glass, sculpture, and other mediums. The students recently copied a portion of the Sistine Chapel and painted it on the art room ceiling.

We not only meet all New York State Standards for visual art but we easily exceed them.  Lessons are often designed in collaboration with classroom teachers to help enhance what the students are studying in other subjects.  There are no limits to what we can make and Mr. Montague tries very hard to get the students to understand this.

Please feel free visit the art room, or call Mr. Montague at 396-2061, or email at tmontague@syrdiocese.org

Music

All students have Music with Mrs. Holzhauer twice a week.
Concert Dates: Dec. 10th & May 27th 6:30pm Lower Church

Students learn the basic concepts of music:
Pitch, rhythm, harmony, dynamics,
 theory, form and much more!

They perform for Sunny 102’s Christmas show, Syracuse Crunch, the SkyChiefs and the Naturalization Ceremony at the Federal Courthouse.

Learning objectives are aligned with the
New York State Standards for
Music Education.
Students participate in a variety of musical
Activities including:

•  Playing Instruments
•  Performing
•  Composing
•  Listening
•  Analyzing
•  Singing

Mrs. Holzhauer is in the building Mon. & Wed. 7:30-3:00 & Thurs. 8:30-1:00.  Feel free to contact Mrs. Holzhauer at 476-6035, or email bholzhauer@syrdiocese.org
 
Why Study Music?
At the Bishops Academy at Most Holy Rosary, Music class encourages, intellectual, moral, spiritual and social development.

Music is multi-sensory.  The more senses you get going to the brain, the more likely the message will get there. One fundamental purpose of education is to transmit our cultural heritage, and music is a powerful means for communicating that message.  It provides an avenue to study our history and other cultures. Music nurtures literacy skills through listening, reading, reading comprehension, singing, and the composing of musical texts.

Songs and chants are a natural way to develop oral language, auditory memory and fluency.
Music helps students to develop and mature. Through music and movement ALL students can feel successful. Music in education provides both motivation and an opportunity for success for at-risk students. Because it is essential that every student succeed in school, our music classes are used as a means for enhancing self-esteem, respect for others, and good citizenship.

Physical Education

All students have Physical Education with Mrs. Gangemi twice a week.

Spirit Day Pep Rally:  February 3, 2010
Blue and White Day/Picnic:  June 18, 2010

Philosophy:  To teach to the whole student and to provide them with a safe and healthy environment where they can grow spiritually and physically, feel challenged, nurtured, and leave with high self-esteem.

Listed below are the units, games and skills that your child/ren will be introduced to aligned with the New York State Standards for Physical Education.

Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten

• Hand and eye coordination
• Motor skills
• Games
• Project adventure games

Grades First, Second, and Third

• Hand and eye coordination and motor skills
• Introduction to sports that are listed below
• Project adventure/cooperation games

Grades Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth

Football, Kickball  Foam Dodgeball. Soccer, Dance Badminton, Floor Hockey, Whiffleball, Conditioning, Volleyball, Batball, Project Adventure/cooperation games
Basketball, N.Y.S Fitness

Please feel free to contact me, I am in the building Wednesday & Friday and my home number is 488-5893, or email bgangemi@syrdiocese.org