Are you accredited?

We are fully accredited by the National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS). 

What is your teacher-student ratio?

Our teacher-student ratio is approximately 1:10.

What is your school schedule?

Our school week is from Tuesday to Friday, from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm. There is no school on Mondays to allow families the freedom of spending additional time together or scheduling doctor appointments on that day. This reduces student absenteeism during the week. However, parents agree to take a direct part in their child’s education by overseeing instructional hours at home on Monday which includes completing additional homework assigned over the long weekend. The academic year begins on the Tuesday following Labor Day and concludes the Friday before Memorial Day. The total hours spent in class, along with the extra hours completed at home on Mondays, meet state requirements for instructional hours.

What is your ideal student body size?

Our maximum enrollment will be approximately 250 students from preschool through 12th grade.

What do you do for lunch?

Students bring their own sack lunches to school. A hot lunch is available for purchase once a week.

What is a “classical education”?

A classical education consists of a study of the cultures and languages of the Greco-Roman world and of the liberal arts as organized and developed by the ancients, especially the Trivium: Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric. Its pursuit is a love of wisdom and a passion for truth. Moreover, a Catholic classical education is one in which the perennial principles of human education that typify the classical approach are elevated, imbued and baptized by the Truth of the Gospel as expressed in the Faith of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Such a course of study aims not only toward the natural good and development of the student but seeks to form faithful disciples of Christ as sons and daughters of the Church whose supernatural end is to be with God in eternity. As such, a Catholic classical curriculum is authentic human education.

How demanding is your curriculum?

Our curriculum aims to bring about the best intellectual formation of our students.  We are an honors school and all our classes are considered to be at the honors level. Our goal is to form students to critically analyze and understand various subject matters and express themselves eloquently both in speech and in writing.  Homework volume tends to be a little more than at traditional public or parochial schools.

How much homework will my child have?

The amount of homework depends on the grade level and can fluctuate throughout  the year. However, teachers strive to limit total daily homework to the following approximate amounts:

• PreS, PreK, Kindergarten: 0-10 minutes

• 1st–2nd Grade: 10-30 minutes

• 3rd–5th Grade: 30-60 minutes

• 6th–8th Grade: 1-1.5 hours

• 9th–12th Grade: 1.5-2 hours

Students in all grades receive additional homework over the weekend to be completed on Monday, which is an at-home instructional day (see “What is your school schedule?” above).

Why is there an emphasis on Latin?

The Latin language is a crucial component of a Catholic, classical education. It forms the mind to learn the structure and etymology of language (it is the mother language of most Western European languages including our own), forms critical thinking skills, prepares students for a variety of professions (e.g. law, medicine) and most importantly, opens wide the doors to experiencing the rich heritage of our culture and Catholic faith. Our curriculum is different than most because it goes beyond rote memorization and instills a deeper understanding of Latin as a living and spoken language in order to rebuild the language of our Church, one student at a time!

Do you teach other languages besides Latin?

Currently our language program is entirely focused on Latin; in the future we hope to add Ancient Greek. At the elementary level, students are exposed to Latin through prayers, songs, poems, and stories; in 6th grade, our students embark on a comprehensive 7-year sequence with the goal of becoming proficient readers of authentic Latin texts.

Do you teach the Common Core Curriculum?

No.

What sports do you offer?  What are the fees?

Our athletic program is volunteer and parent-led. The sports offered each year vary depending on student interest as well as the availability of parent/volunteer coaches. The sports currently offered include basketball, golf, track, cross country, winter guard, flag football, archery, soccer, and volleyball.

Families participate in our athletic program at no additional cost. Parents volunteer to help with admissions, ticketing, and other fundraising opportunities. 

What if our family is not Catholic?

The spirit and heart of the Catholic Faith permeates not only the curriculum at Immaculata, but more importantly, is at the core of our identity and mission which we seek to joyfully live out. Non-Catholic families who desire the education and formation we offer at Immaculata must understand that the Catholic Faith is core to any experience at Immaculata and not just one subject in our curriculum. With this in mind, we do accept families of non-Catholic backgrounds on the condition that the student participates in all of the school’s Catholic services (e.g. Mass, daily prayers, etc), Religion/Theology classes and that the values and virtues the family tries to foster at home are in line with those we seek to teach the children at Immaculata.

Are there entrance exams?

We do not have entrance exams. We do have a placement exam for Math.

Can students enroll in the middle of the school year?

As a four day a week school, classroom time is spent very efficiently and much material is covered throughly by the teacher each day. It is therefore very difficult for a student to enter into our rigorous program during the middle of the school. Nevertheless, should the administration, along with the teacher and with the input of the parents seeking their child’s admittance, discern the child could still be successful, it may be possible to join after the school year starts.  However, each student will be accepted on a case by case basis at the discretion of the teacher and administration.

Can students enroll on a part-time basis?

Our preschool program has a half-day option.  Lower school students can only enroll full-time.  Upper School students are encouraged to enroll as full-time students, but it is possible to enroll for a few courses at the discretion of the teachers and administration and dependent upon student enrollment.

Is tuition assistance available?

We do offer tuition assistance for families in need.  There is a limited amount of scholarship funds available each year.  We utilize an independent financial aid assessment tool (F.A.C.T.S.) to assess and verify need. A Board of Advisors examines the results and assists as many families as possible.  All families who receive financial assistance are asked to give of their time by volunteering at the school. Please ask to see our Tuition Assistance Form to apply.

Can I pay tuition electronically?

Electronic payments are recommended for all families.

Is Immaculata a “Special Needs” school like De Paul, Pitt Academy, or Meredith Dunn?

No.  We are a classical academy with a rigorous academic curriculum for typical children, while at the same time providing academic and/or social integration for some children with special needs. Recognizing the acute need of many families and desiring to respond generously to the Church’s call of service to all, we do admit, on a limited basis, students with special needs, particularly those with Down Syndrome.

Is Down syndrome the only special need that you work with?

At Immaculata Classical Academy, children with special needs are joyfully welcomed and appreciated as children of God. Because of the wide spectrum of special needs, we are necessarily limited in the range of children we can serve. Individuals with Down syndrome have always had a special place at Immaculata, but we have also accepted children with Aspergers, Prader-Willi and severe mental delays, among others, and are always open to meeting any families of children with special needs to discuss whether we would be able to properly serve them at our school.

How do you incorporate children with special needs?

First, from grades preschool through sixth grade, our focus is both academic and social integration. In our upper school, where the academic content becomes more difficult, we focus on social integration of our children with special needs, along with academic integration where possible. If a student can no longer keep up with course content even with accommodations, we offer one on one tutoring to focus on those core skills the student and his family are wanting to develop.

Secondly, in order to properly integrate children with special needs within our model in the lower school, a child must be able to spend most of the day in the regular classroom- at Immaculata, curriculum accommodations within the classroom are most often used. After deliberating with the parents, a family individual education plan is drawn for the student. This way, they receive personal instruction from their teacher, our Special Needs Coordinator or Assistant to review or improve their understanding of the material.  Our combination of small class sizes, low student-teacher ratios, dedicated teachers, full-time Special Needs Coordinator and Assistant along with our zealous hearts, equips us to successfully challenge our children with special needs to meet their own personal potential while at the same time maintaining our high academic standards. 

Can a family apply even if they don’t have a child with special needs in their family?

Absolutely. Most of our families do not have children with special needs. Our mission is to provide the highest quality education and formation to all families, and to all children within a family.