Academics

Preschool

Together we learn using imagination, exploration, creativity and interaction. We pray together in a Catholic environment that will help instill a love of God, self, and others. We grow together emotionally, socially, spiritually, physically and intellectually - preparing our students for a lifetime love of learning.

Believe and Read Program

We're excited to be participating in Believe and Read, a Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (CSCOE) program. CSCOE, a nonprofit organization with a two-part mission of achieving excellence and increasing enrollment in Catholic preschool to eighth-grade schools, has named Transfiguration a Believe and Read school. Believe and Read seeks to transform the lives of thousands of students by bringing a best-in-class literacy program to Catholic elementary schools across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Powered by CSCOE, and in partnership with Groves Academy and Cretin-Derham Hall Catholic High School, the goal of Believe and Read is to ensure every student is at or above grade level reading – because we believe that God calls every child to greatness.

Kindergarten

Students engage in both large and small group lessons that provide activities that appeal to children of varying learning styles and skill levels. Students learn about prayer, bible stories, the Saints, Mass responses, and Church holidays. We also attend weekly Mass with our 6th grade buddies. Students learn basic grammar and are able to construct a sentence using phonetic spelling by the end of Kindergarten. Students learn basic strokes and formation for uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. Students go to a specialist for Spanish, Physical Education and Music. Kindergarteners will attend library and computer class weekly. Each day, students are given the opportunity to engage in activities that build on their creativity, fine motor skills, and social skills.

First Grade

In First Grade we enhance our curriculum by learning about and celebrating Christmas and Holiday’s Around the World, count up to and celebrate the 100th day of school, participate in the Flat Stanley Project, write, polish, illustrate and publish a story into a book, attend field trips. We love being friends with our 7th grade Mass buddies!

Second Grade

Second Grade is a very special year! Students learn and prepare for two sacraments. In January, students celebrate their First Reconciliation, and in the spring their First Holy Communion. Throughout the year, students build and deepen their knowledge from the previous years in all academic areas. In reading, we have a strong focus on comprehending the stories we read and developing fluency in our reading. Students are taught to write and read in cursive. In the spring, students learn to write their first research paper on an animal.

Third Grade

Third Grade is a crossover for students from lower to upper elementary grades. In addition to diving deeper academically, students deepen their communication, organizational and study skills, which empower them to be life-long learners. Taking on greater responsibility and independence, students gain confidence in their abilities and accomplishments. They engage in challenging material in a supportive learning environment, growing as individuals in their collaboration with other students and teachers.
In this environment the children also grow in their faith as they participate in activities such as helping to plan and lead masses.

Fourth Grade

Fourth Graders grow in their academic and social skills as they creatively take on new challenges and responsibilities! Letter grading is used for the first time! They move to higher levels of reading comprehension skills and take on long division, multiplication, and algebraic equations. Creative writing activities abound, such as the Western town unit. They grow in their knowledge of the regions of the United States and many areas of science. Students creatively solve engineering challenges in the LEGO technics and Mindstorms unit! The Bible comes to life through a wonderful tour of Old and New Testament stories in religion class.

Fifth Grade

Fifth grade develops skills sets to include personal, academic and spiritual instruction transitioning them toward middle school success. The vibrant religious instruction includes performing our historical Living Stations of the Cross, delving into Family Life education, and interactive activities to enhance their knowledge of our Catholic history, identity and commitment to our Catholic way of life. Fifth graders engage in many cross-curricular, student-led activities. An example is our small group novel studies in Reading and Writing. In addition, our Science curriculum includes opportunities for constructivist learning through hands-on laboratory and dissection units. Our rigorous Math curriculum includes higher level fraction knowledge, real word problem solving, algebraic reasoning, measurement and geometry. United States History exploration chronicles the early explorers and settlements through the Civil War period. Students participate in a celebrated, annual Wax Museum unit.

Middle School - Sixth, Seventh, & Eighth Grade

We believe that all students can and should be able to use scientific principles that connect to a body of scientific and engineering knowledge acquired through active participation, and hands on laboratory experiences, rooted in scientific inquiry and engineering design with a focus toward scientific literacy.

Math classes are tiered by ability and learning style in the middle school (covering most of the same curriculum at each grade level, just at a different pace). Basic pre-algebra is taught in 6th grade, pre-algebra in 7th grade, and Algebra I in 8th grade.

We believe that a Humanities curriculum should support and guide the development of our students understanding of the world in which we live through the study of citizenship, geography, economics, and history.

Language Arts focuses on the development of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Through their study of Language Arts, students understand the value and importance of language as they analyze, discuss, and create. They gain a greater understanding of humanity and their own thoughts and are challenged to communicate those ideas in clear, reasonable ways. Great works of literature are aligned with our Humanities Curriculum. Minnesota State Standards and National Standards are followed.
Students read a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction literature to improve comprehension while responding to text in a variety of ways. They learn to analyze text for themes, plot, characterization, conflict, structure, claims, and bias.
Extensive grammar lessons include sentence structure, parts of speech and decoding vocabulary with context clues. Writing begins with basic sentence and paragraph structure, pre- and post-reading strategies, and summarizing skills. Writing progresses with increasing difficulty, including outlining, summaries, critiques, creative writing, and research essays including bibliography requirements and citations.
Students engage in opportunities to practice both listening and speaking in different ways to be thoughtful, responsible contributors to society. Students improve communication skills through listening and speaking in front of the large group in Socratic Seminars and self-created skits. They speak in small group discussions, read-alouds, and presentations. Seventh and Eighth graders also compete in our traditional Declamation Project where they memorize and present a famous speech from history.