Aquinas Academy - Community

Community Service in the Curriculum

At Aquinas, students are immersed in Gospel values. Service is at the heart of the Gospel message. For this reason, each student is required to engage in parish service. Aquinas also sponsors service projects throughout the academic year. Both parish and community service are vital elements of the religion curriculum. Because the parish community is paramount in our lives, the following are minimum service guidelines for each grade level:

Grades	Minutes per Month	Hours per Year
K-1	20	3
2-4	30	4.5
5-6	40	6
7-8	60	9

Teachers will discuss service learning during religion class and will work with students to generate ideas on how they might become involved.

The objective of the service projects is twofold. In addition to doing good, students are encouraged to reflect on their service experience to identify how they were served, personally and spiritually, by reaching out to help others.

The banner above is an example of an 8th grade
religion project. The banner reflects the students
involvement within the church and their community.