Virtues
Our most important and ultimate mission in the moral education of our students is training their hearts and minds toward the good. Sharing the light of faith, we include in our goals the Christian obligations of love, justice and service. Our aim is to foster a spirit of Christian living and to help students grow in understanding themselves and their responsibilities to others. The school community works together to instruct and train our students in Christian values, to provide them with moral example and support, and to develop their awareness of the relationship between choices and consequences. As a Catholic School, we have the perfect model to guide us: the loving, respectful, tolerant attitude of Jesus Christ. 

The success of our mission will be recorded in graduates whose Christian values and strong moral character, academic competence, and social skills lead them forth to positive, productive futures. To help achieve this mission, Saint Mary’s has adopted the following behavior curriculum for the moral development of our students. Each year will focus on particular virtues. Our success requires the entire school community – parents, teachers, students – to act together to make moral education the number one priority in our lives.

Early Childhood: Joy and Mercy – Learning to celebrate the beauty of God’s creations and exercising kindness and forgiveness towards those who are in need.

Kindergarten: Courtesy and Respect – Learning the importance of politeness and good manners in dealing with others, as well as the need to respect one another, and
personal and public property.

First Grade: Punctuality and Neatness – Being on time for school and with assignments and being neat in both school work and homework.

Second Grade: Kindness and Generosity – Understanding the need to reach out and help one another and realizing the joy in giving more than is expected.

Third Grade: Hard Work and Perseverance – Recognizing the importance of diligence and a good work attitude, the satisfaction of doing our best and the need to
keep trying despite obstacles.

Fourth Grade: Honesty and Responsibility – Being truthful and keeping our word, doing the right thing even when no one else is looking, accepting the consequences
of our actions and meeting our obligations.

Fifth Grade: Patience and Self-Discipline – Learning to be patient with ourselves and others, saying “yes” to the right things and “no” to the wrong things, and taking charge of ourselves by controlling our actions and emotions.

Sixth Grade: Tolerance and Justice – Learning to accept and appreciate the differences in others and treating them with equality and fairness.

Seventh Grade: Thoughtfulness and Compassion – Understanding the needs and feelings of others so that our actions can be less self-centered and more responsive to
the welfare of other people.

Eighth Grade: Loyalty and Courage – Caring about our relationships with others and being willing to show it through our actions; having strength and will to do what
is right even when we’re afraid or it’s unpopular.