Aquinas Academy offers a well-balanced curriculum that provides students with the knowledge, skills and values that are needed for daily living.  We challenge students to reach their full potential by nurturing their inherent curiosity and recognizing their accomplishments.

In addition to meeting all of the Pennsylvania Department of Education requirements, our curriculum integrates Gospel values. 

Our curriculum includes:

Each year, teachers provide parents/guardians with a curriculum handout that pertains to their children’s academic requirements.  This sharing of information assists in building a strong home-school partnership that greatly benefits students.

The religion course is the most critical element of the curriculum.  Opportunities for prayer, reception of the sacraments, and participation in a faith community are important components of the religion program.  The objectives religious instruction are to help each child develop a relationship with God and to lead a lifestyle consistent with Gospel values.  All students – Catholic and non-Catholic – are required to study religion and to participate in religious activities.

Initial catechesis for the sacraments of initiation (Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation) is the responsibility of the child’s parish community.  Sacramental preparation occurs outside the religion classroom in a family/intergenerational context.

Students who meet the established criteria (teacher recommendation, A-B average, and score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests) may take pre-algebra in seventh grade and algebra in eighth grade.

Family and Consumer Science and Technology Education are taught to seventh- and eighth-grade students, respectively, at Greensburg-Salem Middle School.  Students are taken to the middle school and escorted back after the classes, which include only Aquinas students.

Computer instruction is essential in today’s educational process.  Computers are basic tools for teaching logical thinking and problem solving, creative writing, communication, information management and many other aspects of the curriculum.

At Aquinas, computers are available in three different labs.  Formal computer instruction begins in kindergarten.

Our technology program involves use of the internet, computers, videos, digital cameras, overhead projectors and much more.   

Aquinas has an Acceptable Use Policy, which requires that each school year, every parent, student and faculty member sign a form agreeing to adhere to the policy.  The policy mandates appropriate use of technology resources. You can download the Acceptable Use Policy by clicking here.

Guidance services are funded through Pennsylvania Act 89 and are provided by Westmoreland County Intermediate Unit (I.U.) 7.  The I.U. contracts with Catapult Learning, a part of Education Inc., to provide a certified guidance counselor to the school.   Services include, but are not limited to, help with study skills, career counseling and social concerns.

Counseling services for individual students or small groups are provided based upon teacher and/or parental referrals.