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Encore Classes

Art

All of our students, from Pre-K to 4-year-olds in the full-day classes through eighth grade, enjoy Art Class once a week. The classes are taught by a talented artist and instructor, who does a wonderful job incorporating the work of the artworld master's into her curriculum.

As the school year begins to wind down, Miss Soltysiak HFS Art teacher, pulls together some of her students' best work for a Holy Family School Art Show, which is combined with an Open House of the school.  All students and their families, as well as the community are welcome to come in and enjoy our students' renditions of Picasso and Renoir, among others.

Miss Soltysiak also works with the eighth grade to design and build a 2x4 foot mosaic, which is then gifted to the school.  These fantastic works of art are displayed on the walls throughout our school. 

Music

Holy Family School is proud of its dedication to the Arts, which includes our Music Department. Under the very capable direction of a staff member from Northeastern Music, students from Kindergarten through 8th grade receive music instruction once a week, learning about music history and music theory.  

An Instrumental Instructor hired through Northeastern Music, Dr. Deborah Andrus provides instrument lessons to our students (at an additional cost) and directs both a Beginner's Band and an Advanced Band at HFS. The bands have the opportunity to participate in concerts and festivals outside of the school setting, widening their circle of musical accomplishments and experience.

Holy Family has seven Martin Guitars, which were donated to our school as part of a grant from the Martin Guitar Foundation.  John Slog, an alumnus of Holy Family School, is the owner of Guitar Villa.  He has graciously donated an adult-sized guitar to Holy Family School. 

STEM

  • K - 5th Grades 

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education. It is an interdisciplinary approach that helps students succeed in their future careers. The focus of a STEM education in Kindergarten through 3rd Grades is hands-on, problem-based learning. We do practical skills such as typing and science experiments in the classroom.

  • Middle School STEM - Teacher Ms. Dani Mackavage

Students in middle school (6th , 7th , and 8th grades) have access to a learning space and resources that provide opportunities for hands-on collaborative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. STEM enrichment class is taught once per week using newly acquired 1:1 class iPads and STEM supported learning apps to enhance student engagement and experience.

The sixth-grade curriculum introduces students to the world of robots where they work collaboratively using Lego Mindstorms and block coding to build, program, and test their robot designs and compete in various robot missions. Through this fully immersive year, essential higher-level skills, including critical thinking, communication, and innovation are being developed.

In the seventh grade, visual technology becomes the focus of the STEM curriculum. Students learn the basics of website design and html coding. Through collaboration with core subject teachers, students create  meaningful web pages while learning the various elements and attributes of the html language. Later in the year, stop motion animation techniques are taught and student created video stories are shared.

During the eighth-grade year, students are academically ready to code in Python. As the commands in this programming language are taught, students will be given weekly output challenges. By combining new commands with previous knowledge and understanding of programming syntax, students will write increasingly more difficult Python code to complete
the ongoing challenges. The year will culminate with the class identifying and creating their own technology-related legacy to Holy Family School.

Spanish Language

All students from Pre-K (4-years-old) through 8th Grade receive weekly instruction in the Spanish language. In Pre-K 4 through Grade 5 the students are taught by Senora Acuna-Gomez while grades 6-8 are taught by Mrs. Diana Vosseller.

Beginning in Kindergarten, Senora Gomez teaches the students colors and shapes in Spanish. In 1st grade, they learn about the seasons and then move on to methods of transportation in 2nd grade. Subsequent grades have a concentration on Spanish adjectives; dates; formal vs. informal sentence structure; verb conjugations and more.

Mrs. Vosseller also encourages students to continue their studies at home via website resources (www.quia.com for all grades and www.studyspanish.com for grades 3-8).

Physical Education

Our goal is for our students to lead a healthy, active lifestyle now and in the future.

Physical Education is offered weekly to all of our students (Pre-K through 8th Grades). Third through 8th Grades receive 60 minutes of physical education (includes 5 minutes locker room time where applicable). Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grades receive 45 minutes, and Pre-K 4 year olds receive 30 minutes of physical education.

Physical Education is a PA state-mandated class.  Therefore, if a child is under a doctor's care, please submit a doctor's note to the school nurse and the P.E. teacher with specific directions for how long the child is to be excused or in need of any limitations.  After a child has been excused from P.E. class with a doctor's note (example: broken arm), they will need a doctor's note to return to P.E. class. 

In addition, a parent should not excuse a child from P.E. class. Rather, if there is a need for limitations, such as no running due to coughing, then the child can participate in those activities without running. During each P.E. class, there are numerous activities in which your child may participate.

Health

Holy Family School is proud to offer health class to every class from Kindergarten through 8th Grade.

Kindergarten through the 5th Grades receive a 30-minute health class every other week.  Topics are age appropriate and include germ transmission, fire prevention, dental health, heart health, feelings and emotions, safety, poisons, alcohol and drug education, anti-smoking, and nutrition, to name just a few. Sixth, 7th, and 8th Grades receive a 40-45 minute health class each week. Within these grades, topics include but are not limited to germ transmission, fire prevention, first aid, body systems, anti-bullying, heart health, alcohol and drug education, nutrition, male and female reproductive systems (for 6th, 7th  and 8th Grades), and anti-smoking.

During each marking period for 6th, 7th and 8th Grades, a student's health folder and notebook are collected (advance notice given) and the following items graded:

  • Content for each including required weekly lesson notes and handouts
  • Was it handed in on time?
  • Graded tests or assignments signed by parent (7th and 8th Grades);
  • Neatness and organization

Library

Library media classes are offered weekly for students Pre-K through 8th Grade. The classes, led by HFS Librarian Miss Jen Hudak support and enhance the core curriculum, teach library skills, provide the opportunity for research and expose students to a wide variety of updated reading materials for personal reading. 

Our library media center, containing more than 6,000 titles, is equipped with multiple computers, on which every book in the library is cataloged, so parents can view from home the choices their children have prior to their weekly library class. Students also receive instruction on how to use the Dewey Decimal System. Parents and students may even access the HFS library system from their home computer.

With Miss Hudak's attention to detail and passion for literature, the HFS library has been transformed into a welcoming, warm place that allows students the chance to explore, all the while nurturing their love of reading.