Our Faith and the Catholic Advantage

Advantages of a Catholic Education and Your Child's Faith Journey

What makes a Catholic education unique? What happens at a Catholic school that forges a positive impact on students? Saint Hilary School believes the “secret sauce” for Catholic schools is found in the weaving of our Catholic values into the curriculum.

The renowned Catholic educator, Kathleen Porter-Magee speaks to the idea that treating “every student as having equal worth before God” might be the secret magic ingredient enabling Catholic schools to hold an esteemed record of success. Porter-Magee notes three core elements that drive the Catholic education model that may not be visible to an outsider:

• The belief in objective truth
• Commitment to the belief that all humans are made in the image of God
• Priority of teaching the habits of virtue and the happiness of choosing to do good

Throughout the curriculum in Catholic schools, “academic rigor is grounded in the belief that truth is objective, and the one goal of education is the search for objective truth.” To this end, the Saint Hilary School curriculum is created in such a way that students learn what they need to learn by looking for the truth in the question at hand.

In regards to seeing each student made in the image and likeness of God, students are held in high regard, and the curriculum is aimed at helping bring out the best of their abilities. As author and speaker, Matthew Kelly would say, they are pushed to “be the best versions of themselves” every day. Catholic schools also foster a culture that allows students to understand that happiness is found when they do good.

Students who have been educated within Catholic schools understand there is a core of virtues at the center of all they do and know that the lessons taught stay with them through the rest of their schooling, their careers, and their lives as they work to do good in their daily life. As they do this work they are encouraged to focus less on individual achievement (though, of course, important), but to move to a bigger focus of using all they’ve learned to live these virtues and their faith in a way that benefits the students long after they graduate. To achieve this lofty aspiration all of our students, from all faiths, participate in individual class liturgies, celebrations and spiritual retreats, as well as daily prayer. Our daily religion classes offer a time during the day to learn about and cultivate the students’ spiritual development. The classes attend Mass weekly, as well as a number of all-school Masses. For Catholic students, Grade 2 is the year they prepare for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and Eucharist and in Grade 8, they participate in Confirmation.

Working in conjunction with parents as the primary educators, our teachers and staff are proud to help students learn and grow in all aspects of life. It is the spiritual, emotional, and social growth, however, that ultimately helps the students to become the moral and just young adults of the future.

Saint Hilary School parents know that by sending their child(ren) to Saint Hilary, you are setting them on a path to success (academic, career-wise, and personal) that will continue throughout their lives.

Dr. Marie Bordeleau

Principal - Saint Hilary School