About Us: Junior High

The academic challenge of Junior High readies students for their next step: high school. Working with local Diocesan high schools to develop our junior high essential skills, our students leave the Blessed Sacrament campus with experience in navigating a rigorous curriculum and prepared for high school success.

Cross-curricular units are implemented across content areas to increase student interest and mastery

Junior high students also attend physical education, enrichment, technology, art, music, and Spanish classes.

Eagle Time is a class period that occurs twice a week and incorporates Response to Intervention strategies. This  data-driven method of instruction and assessment allows the teacher to direct instruction towards the levels and needs of the individual.

Please see below for an overview of the junior high curriculum.

Religion

  • religious formation through Theology of the Body, prayer, Bible study, school theme, and textbooks
  • exposure to Catholic prayers including the Rosary
  • study of the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit
  • celebrating Mass weekly
  • Liturgy of the Word analysis
  • service and stewardship
  • spiritual gifts and understanding unique God-given S.H.A.P.E.s
  • applying the roots of our faith
  • Sacramental preparation for Confirmation in the 8th grade
  • spiritual retreats
Language Arts

  • tiered vocabulary and grammar instruction
  • curriculum blends print and technology for writing, grammar, and reading instruction that supports and challenges students to become collaborative and self-directed learners
  • novel and poetry studies
  • creative, expository, and persuasive writing opportunities
  • entrance into the pro-life essay competition
  • participation in oral storytelling and persuasive speeches
  • skill advancement in the analysis of literature
  • annotating text
Math

  • advanced 7th and 8th-grade mathematics
  • the opportunity to complete Algebra I at CCH/NDA for high school credit
  • 360 Degree Math learning approach
  • junior high essential skills focus on algebraic expressions and equations, improper and proper fractions, fraction operations, geometry, factoring, scale drawing and slope, Pythagorean theorem, and additional operation and algebraic thinking skills
  • active lessons that incorporate games and technology
  • problem-solving is the center of math learning and concepts are taught through real-world, hands-on experiences
Science

  • focus on life science in 7th grade and physical science in 8th grade
  • application of the scientific method and design process through producing products
  • testing hypotheses through labs and hands-on experiments
  • essential skills focusing on  chemical equations,  waves and radiation, properties of matter, chemicals and reactions, forces and interactions, genetics, body systems,  biodiversity, ecosystems, and sustainability
  • project-based learning activities and hands-on investigations to experience science in real-world situations
Social Studies

  • American History is taught in two parts in Junior High. 7th grade’s focus is pre-Civil War while 8th grade’s is post-Civil War.
  • examining the cause and effect relationships which formed history
  • use of geographic tools
  • studying the development and changes of the United States’ economic systems
  • discovering how geography affected the United States’ cultural development
  • immigration and technological innovations
  • conflict resolution
  • development of the United States’ government
  • rights and responsibilities of citizenship

Please see our contact page for the staff list and contact information.