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| Academics |
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St. Thomas Aquinas School is a catholic school located on the west side of Binghamton. Established in 1953, it has grown and changed from
a k-8 to a pre-k-3 format. Our children come from families of both white collar and blue-collar parents; doctors, educators, government,
lawyers, politicians, service workers, tradesman, etc.
We are a family-oriented school with a curriculum that follows the New York State (NYS) and Diocesan guidelines.
Our curriculum includes Religion, English Language Arts, Math,
Social Studies,
Science, Library, Spanish, Physical Education, Art, and Music. We operate as
self-contained classrooms with intra-school movement for Art, Music, Physical Education
and Computer class. Art, Computer, Library and Spanish are
offered once in our six-day cycle program while Physical Education and Music are offered twice.
Religion is the core of the St. Thomas experience. Besides the instruction in basic doctrine, our students have visited nursing homes,
been involved in intergenerational programs, taken up collections for Mom’s House, the Salvation Army, the children in Africa and Peru and collected
winter hats, gloves and coats for the needy in the area. Through these projects, the Gospel message of Peace, Love and Justice are conveyed to the
students. Our students are involved in our monthly Mass by doing the Readings, Prayers of the Faithful and participating in the Offertory Procession.
Our school offers a hot lunch program. Before and after school programs, in which the children are supervised during different activities both indoors
and outdoors, have been well attended.
Standardized testing is done at the beginning of the school year so that weaknesses can be recognized early on in the year. These results help us in
analyzing which of our students needs extra help in certain areas. A Title I/Reading Specialist program is provided and designed to help students who show a weakness in
ELA areas. These areas are worked on in a small group or 1-on-1 basis.
Our Nursery, pre-K and Early-K programs are a great way to get your child introduced and acquainted with our school. With their age appropriate
programs, the children become very
comfortable with school life.
They are included in
many of the activities within the school,
such as assemblies,
our Halloween Party, the
Christmas and spring shows. A newsletter is sent home to their families informing them of the many school activities.
In our Kindergarten, the children are introduced to Religion doctrine with special emphasis on Creation and holyday celebrations such as Christmas
and Easter. Reading and Math readiness skills are also part of the Kindergarten experience. For the past two years, our Kindergarten students have
been visiting the Willow Point Nursing Home for an intergenerational program.
In grades K-3, all subjects are taught in accordance with the NYS and Diocesan Learning Guidelines.
Technology is alive and growing at Saint Thomas Aquinas School with wireless laptops. During computer classes, each student is assigned his/her own
laptop. All students from Kindergarten through Third Grade are given instruction in operating a computer, including keyboarding, word processing and
researching via the internet. The older students learn to develop age appropriate projects in graphic organizers, powerpoint and excel programs; as
well as internet-related skills, such as Web quest, video streaming and downloading. It is thrilling and inspiring to see our students make their way
through the world of technology with such ease and enjoyment.
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