You’ll find that we hold a high academic standard for our students Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. St. Paul Lutheran exceeds the requirements established by the Common Core Standard, and we use a literature based moral development program within Core Virtue Curriculum. Our students have smaller classrooms and use the newest technology while they learn, giving them the academic edge.
Campus Life
Welcome to St. Paul!
Please check our school calendar for school events this month.
Parents Club
Parents are encouraged to join our Parents Club or the Fathers Club. Meet and greet each other for Mom’s or Dad’s Night Out events each month. Parents get together to help provide fun family friendly events.
Goals for a Graduate of St. Paul
St. Paul’s curriculum, through the use of the Core Knowledge sequence, exceeds the requirement established by the State of California; it is organized by subject area and includes sequential experiences.
Academic Objectives
A graduate of St. Paul is a
Believer who:
- Recognizes Jesus as the Son of God.
- Develops and maintains beliefs and behaviors rooted in the Bible.
- Demonstrates and practices the values associated with our Core Virtues to become an active and effective member of our church, community and world.
- Feels a strong sense of Christian community and is committed to serving others.
Scholar who:
- Uses critical thinking strategies to become a creative problem solver.
- Communicates effectively in verbal, written and artistic forms.
- Develops a rich vocabulary through exposure to a broad range of literature.
- Applies learned knowledge to real-world situations.
- Demonstrates digital citizenship in their use of technology to gain knowledge and design examples of higher level understanding in their learning.
- Sets goals utilizing a growth mindset.
Part of a School Family that:
- Works cooperatively assuming responsibility for the group.
- Exhibits respect for self, others and the environment.
- Demonstrates skills to resolve conflicts peacefully.
We have used the Core Knowledge Sequence as our core curriculum for over 11 years. The idea behind Core Knowledge is simple and powerful: knowledge builds on knowledge. The more you know, the more you are able to learn. This insight, well-established by cognitive science (click here for the research) has profound implications for teaching and learning. Thinking critically, our nation’s most important goal for education, is a function of the depth and breadth of our knowledge.
By outlining the content that every child should learn in language arts and literature, history, geography, mathematics, science, music, and the visual arts, the Core Knowledge Sequence identifies the foundational knowledge every child needs to reach these goals and teach it, grade-by-grade, year-by-year, in a coherent, age-appropriate sequence. You can download the entire sequence for free here. Research concerning the effectiveness of the sequence is here.
St. Paul curriculum exceeds the requirements established by the Common Core Standard, and the State of California, through the use of Core Knowledge Curriculum. This curriculum provides the foundation for academic excellence and a progression of knowledge from grade to grade. The Core Knowledge, when combined with Common Core mandated skills provides educators with a well rounded curriculum. Art history, classic literature, world civilization, music, proverbs, math and science are a few of the strands students will study as they move from grade to grade.
Core Virtue Curriculum is a literature base moral development program in grades K-6. The program goal is the cultivation of character through the promotion of basic moral, civic and intellectual virtues. We employ a three year rotation of virtues in order to add variety and to stress the breadth of moral vision that we want all children to make their own.
Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS): Starting in the 2006-2007 school year, all St. Paul students took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). From its beginning in 1935, the emphasis in the program has been on the use of ITBS results for instructional purposes. To that end, a vast number of school districts – both public and private – have voluntarily participated in this program annually since its inception. Over 70 years, the assessment has been known for its validity, reliability, and consistency. This allows St. Paul’s parents and teachers to have a high level of confidence in its effectiveness in evaluating students’ progress allowing the school to continually improve teaching methods.
Admissions
To arrange a visit to our school, please call our school office at (209) 383-3302, or complete the form below. During your tour you will view our campus, meet our teachers, and see our curriculum in action!
Marianne Daughdrill,
Director of Admissions and Development
[email protected]
Financial Aid
Each year St. Paul designates an amount of financial aid monies to be awarded to Kindergarten through Sixth Grade families. Beginning in March, application information is available to families who are requesting aid for the first time, and families who have indicated on an admissions application that they would like to receive financial aid information. To apply for aid, families will be directed to TADS (Tuition Aid Data Services). TADS will review your financial information and suggest to us what your family’s ability to pay for your child’s tuition should be.
*At this time we do not offer financial aid for preschool students. We do participate with Merced County ACCESS, please contact the office for more details.
To apply for aid for the 2022-2023 academic year, you will need to complete a TADS Financial Aid Application. You may choose to first complete a TADS Financial Aid Worksheet, which is intended to prepare you to fill out the TADS Application. This worksheet will not be accepted by TADS as an application.
In order to apply, you may do so online by clicking on the link below, you may contact TADS directly by calling 1-800-477-8237 to request a paper application (additional fee). The application should be completed and submitted to TADS. Any parent requiring assistance should call the TADS toll-free helpline at 1-800-477-8237. Hours of operation are Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Accreditation
St. Paul Lutheran School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and by National Lutheran School Accreditation (NLSA). We choose to become accredited for a number of reasons.
First, accreditation assures our school community that St. Paul’s purposes are appropriate and being accomplished through a viable educational program; it’s one way we validate the integrity of a St. Paul Lutheran education.
Secondly, it contributes to the improvement of the our programs, services and operations. Through an ongoing means of self-assessment it helps us manage change through:
- Assessment
- Planning
- Implementing
- Monitoring
- Reassessment
During this process, St. Paul Lutheran is visited by a team of fellow educators, both public and private, to corroborate our work and give us insights and perspectives. This has been valuable over the years.
Finally, graduating from an accredited school ensures families and students that our course of study has been approved for entrance into both public and private schools.