The mission of the St. Anthony Religious Studies program is to nurture the spiritual development of our children and guide them to encounter Jesus on their life journey. We plant a seed of faith, with the help of their families that grows and develops to help guide them and rely on and trust in this faith throughout their lives. We want to make Jesus a fundamental partner in their lives.

1^st - 8^th Grade

Our slogan focuses our attention on what our program here aims to do, namely, to impart our Christian values, teachings and beliefs to our parishioners, especially our young parishioners, and to form Christian leaders for the future.

Each young person in our parish IS a STAR in God’s eyes and in our eyes too, gifted with unlimited talents and possibilities.  The STARS program will seek to develop all of the God-given abilities of our students in the context of their faith journey.  Our STARS program this upcoming year will include new textbooks which return to the basics of our faith rather than the very broad, multi-concept texts which have been used for many years which both students and catechists alike have found difficult to understand and learn from.

The weekly curriculum will correspond with the Sunday Mass liturgies following the Mass Readings as well as the Liturgical Calendar.  For example, students will study about Stations of the Cross during the Lenten Season and the Lives of the Saints during the week of November 1.  When students arrive at Mass on Sunday they will have already had a foretaste of what they will hear at Mass because they will have been studying about it in class.

Additionally, there will be many new interactive activities for the students.  No longer will students sit for the entire class period at their desks reading from a book.  Now, text book learning will be supplemented by group discussions as well as video and audio presentations for all students.  Our upper grades will enjoy inspirational and noteworthy guest speakers on a monthly basis who will encourage them in their journey toward discerning a successful career path and, more importantly, God’s Will for their lives.  Also, upper-class students will partake in several “outings” throughout the year which will, again, enhance what they are learning in the classroom environment.

We believe these important changes will continue to aid us in providing a program of excellence which is exciting, informative and inspirational for the young people and families of our parish.  We look forward to another GREAT year and hope all of our students, catechists and families enjoy our STARS Program!

The Catholic School, and Religious Education enables the youth to form a Catholic identity. For Catholics to receive Religious Education is a sacred duty and a right. It is one of the important aspects of the Church’s mission.