Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.s)

St. Mary’s Catholic School follows a Catholic Classical education curriculum. Our Catholic Classical education strives to cultivate our students' love for the True, the Beautiful, and the Good - and to discover the Divine nature and order of all things.   Through wonder and awe, our students are guided ever closer to Our Creator, and thus recognize the glory of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and our resulting salvation. 

When we say “Catholic Classical Education,” we mean an educational approach rooted in the medieval concept of the Trivium (Latin for “three ways”). Each element of the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) is viewed as subjects, stages of development, teaching methodologies, and tools for learning, A student who has mastered the tools will be able to think and learn for themselves and thus be able to master any subject they approach.

St. Mary’s Catholic Schools Classical Education model is structured throughout the grade levels to reflect childhood development, each stage laying the foundation for the next stage.

Grammar Stage - K through 5th  Grade

The Grammar Stage is where the building blocks for all other learning are laid, just as grammar is the foundation for language. In the elementary school years, the mind is ready to absorb information. Children at this age find memorization fun. So during this period, education involves not just self-expression and self-discovery, but rather the learning of facts. Rules of phonics and spelling, grammar, poems, the vocabulary of foreign languages, the stories of history and literature, descriptions of plants and animals and the human body, the facts of mathematics — the list goes on. This information makes up the “grammar,” or the basic building blocks, of this stage of education.

Logic Stage - 6th-8th Grade

The second phase of Classical Education, the “Logic Stage,” is a time when the child begins to pay attention to cause and effect, to the relationships between different fields of knowledge, and how they relate, and to the way facts fit together into a logical framework.

A student is ready for the Logic Stage when the capacity for abstract thought begins to mature. During these years, the student begins the study of logic, and begins to apply logic to all academic subjects. The logic of writing, for example, includes paragraph construction and learning to support a thesis; the logic of reading involves the criticism and analysis of texts, not simple absorption of information; 

NWEA offers state-aligned, computerized adaptive tests, called Measure of Academic Progress (MAP). These tests accurately reflect the instructional level of each student and measure growth over time. NWEA offers MAP tests in Mathematics, Reading, and Language Arts. Parents should expect updated MAP reports sent home three times per year.

St. Mary's is fully accredited by the Texas Catholic Conference Education Department (recognized by the Texas Education Agency), the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and AdvancED.

Most St. Mary’s graduates attend Holy Trinity  Catholic High School. Some students attend local high schools. Our graduates are frequently accepted into gifted/talented, honors, International Baccalaureate, and other accelerated programs.

Learn more about Holy Trinity Catholic High School

All teachers are certified by the State of Texas and meet the Texas Catholic Conference Education Department qualifications for instruction. Many teachers hold advanced and specialized degrees.

Core subjects are - ELA (English, Language Arts), Math, Science, Social Studies/History, Spanish and Religion. 

All 8th graders take Spanish 1 for high school credit, and 8th graders may test into Algebra I for High School credit.