The Catholic Faith is the foundation of our Parish school of Church of the Little Flower. Here we worship the Lord as we form our young students in the Name of Jesus. We form our students with a strong and solid Catholic foundation that will help them to become ethical and moral citizens here in this world and in preparation for eternal life. We include in our Catholic formation program (but this list is not exhaustive):

• Daily Religion Classes in the Faith that is in union with the Magisterium of the Church
• Sacramental Preparation for First Communion and Confirmation as we work in conjunction with the Parish Religious Education program. (also for students in need of Baptism)
• Weekly Masses that include Holy Days of Obligation
• Sunday Grade Level family Masses
• Weekly Confessions
• Virtue of the Month
• Saint of the Day with a focus on St Therese, the patron of our parish and school
• Catholic Devotions (May Crowning, Brown Scapular, All Saints’ Day, Advent and Lenten activities, Novenas, etc.)
• Saint of the Day devotions
• Carmelite Spirituality in prayer and sacrifice
• Altar Serving
• Vocation Days
• Catholic Schools Week
• Days of Prayer for faculty, parents and students
• Young Women of Grace formation for Junior High girls
• Parent Formation (Coffee with Catholics, Retreats from both the parish and school, etc.)
• Parish Involvement (Lectors, ushers, choir singers, etc.)

Now that we have built on our Catholic Faith formation, our academic excellence can now be built on this. Academics are based on the Mission of the School and the Development of the whole Child

Areas of focus:

• Higher Critical Thinking/Application Skills
• Data-based instruction
• Math Applications
• Technology Integration
• Writing Process Across the Grade Levels and Curriculum
• Instructional Process through Differentiated Learning
• Special Area includes: Art, Music, PE, Spanish
• High Iowa Standardized test scores

Meeting the Learning Needs of All our Students:

• Strategies Program for students with learning needs
• Algebra offered for students in 8th grade who qualify
• Spanish is offered at two levels: Intermediate and Advanced

After School Enrichment Programs that include

• STEM, Fine Arts, Coding, Theater, Dance, Spanish
• Study Skills
• Sports
• Clubs (Altar Servers, Green Team, Student Council, National Junior Honor Society, Newspaper, Tech Team, etc.)

As part of St Theresa’s ongoing mission to Educate for Life with the Mind and Heart of Christ, we want to include our parents and stakeholders to understand more deeply the school’s mission. 

Our mission statement has been recited and memorized by all our students and staff at STS. 

We continue on reflecting on our school mission on how we live it out here at STS and at home. We will take each phrase of the mission each month and reflect on how it’s lived out.

The third phrase: “…[St Theresa Catholic School is committed to…] ...service... What does this mean? Now that we have built on our Catholic Faith formation, our commitment to service can now be built on this. 

Our area of service stems from our Catholic identity. Using our academic knowledge, we can use these gifts to better help those in need and to change our society for the better. 

We strive to aid the children in: 

• basic value of respect for self and others based on our Christian ethic. 
• love and respect for their culture and that of others. 
• self-direction and leadership. 
• developing a true sense of concern and responsibility for others. 
• appreciation of and loyalty for their country. 

We strive to implement these goals by: 

1. Providing an atmosphere of deep respect and courtesy and by presenting curriculum and activities in a manner that appreciates the contributions of all. 
2. Helping the children to apply Christian moral standards as the criteria in solving life situations and world issues. 
3. Encouraging age-appropriate independence through self-discipline in studies and classroom responsibilities. 4. Providing the children with opportunities for leadership and responsibility through classroom duties, student council, and other extra-curricular activities. 

In action: 

• Student Council activities 
• Green Team recycling initiatives 
• Our Thanksgiving Food Drive and Christmas Toy Drive 
• Respect Life collections for the Archdiocese of Miami 
• Hope for Kasai Initiative. 
• Megan’s Angel Wings 
• St Jude Trike-a-Thon (PK 4) 
• Helping victims from Hurricane Irma 
• Visiting the elderly during Christmas (8th Gr) 
• National Junior Honor Society activities 
• Coral Gables Farmers’ Market 
• Coral Gables Arbor Day Festivities 
• Making Sandwiches for the parish homeless ministry.

What does this mean? Now that we have built on our Catholic Faith formation, our academic excellence in service, can understand that it is pertinent to have an ongoing environment that enables our students to flourish as human persons. Doing all the other essentials are good, but if this is the only reason why our children are here, then it is nothing better than another private or charter school.

Our Nurturing and Christ-Centered Environment is based on the Mission of the School and the Development of the whole Child Areas of focus:

• Taking responsibility for our own actions-whether good or in need of growth.
• Respecting the dignity of each other that we are all created in the image and likeness of God.
• We address bullying, internet safety and appreciating differences in learning abilities daily. Though every school encounters these issues, St. Theresa School’s environment addresses them with utmost prudence and charity.
• Disciplining with St. John Bosco’s Preventive System of Reason, Religion and Kindness.
• Appreciating the God-given gifts of each student and how this contributes to the whole.
• Learning good manners with each other and adults.
• Learning and practicing Virtues of the Month.
• Participating in the Virtus “Teaching God’s Children” program as outlined by the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
• Teaching respect for those in authority (teachers, adults, parents, police, fire department, city officials, ecclesial authority, priests, sisters and other persons.