SW_EG_ZB_120519

14 | December 5, 2019 | 22nd century media education guide
22ndCenturyMedia.com
St. Jude Catholic School producing academic, spiritual leaders
St. Jude Catholic School
in New Lenox continues
on the journey of guiding
the spiritual, academic, social,
and emotional growth
and development of the
next generation of students
in grades preschool
through eighth grade.
St. Jude’s mission continues
to follow the Augustinian
values of Truth,
Unity and Love to prepare
students to be 21st century
leaders.
The rigorous academic
program at St. Jude prepares
our students to
achieve academically.
Students consistently perform
above the national
standards on standardized
tests (Iowa Tests and AimsWeb),
earn scholarships
awarded for high school
entrance exams (more
than $30,000 last year) and
compete in academic competitions.
St. Jude offers instructional
and competitive
sports programs in volleyball,
basketball, co-ed
volleyball and cross country.
There are a wide variety
of extracurricular activities
offered, including
STEM activities, Service
Club, choir, band, chess,
drawing, crochet and Sign
Language Club. Spanish
instruction is part of the
curriculum for grades K
through eighth.
Central to our faithbased
learning is the participation
of the students
in many service related
projects and parish activities.
Student Council sponsors
many events, such as
Focus Days for charities,
collections for Operation
Care Package, and NAWS,
and trips to visit at Veterans’
homes and volunteer
at Daybreak Shelter.
The school day begins
with school-wide prayer,
and students participate in
multi-grade Prayer Families.
Parish support is crucial
in the spiritual growth
of the whole child. Sacrament
preparation is one
way in which the whole
community is involved.
Students prepare weekly
mass and participate in
the monthly parish student
mass.
Technology remains
an important tool for 21st
century learners. All St.
Jude students utilize a
fully-equipped computer
lab. Every classroom has
an updated SMART Board
integrated with individual
devices. Grades K-fourth
have class sets of iPads
and/or laptops. Grades
fifth-eighth participate in
an iPad one-to one program.
School staff uses
the latest in instructional
technology programs,
such as Discovery Education,
Google Classroom
and Apple Classroom.
Students produce a daily
podcast from their stateof-the-art
podcasting studio
with information about
news, current events, local
and school information,
and lively student led discussions.
All of this takes place in
a very safe and secure environment.
Class sizes are
kept small to allow for individualized
and differentiated
instruction. A warm
and nurturing environment
is provided by the caring
and dedicated staff. The
average teaching experience
of the staff is
17.5 years, and almost
50 percent of the staff has
or is working toward an
advanced teaching degree.
It is recognized that parents
are the first teachers of
their children, and a strong
school/parent relationship
is vital to the success of the
students.
The pastor of St. Jude
Parish, Rev. Robert Basler,
is committed to the role
that our school plays in
the parish community and
is a strong advocate of our
school. He can be seen frequently
greeting, visiting
the classrooms and guiding
the spiritual development
of the school.
The principal, Kathleen
Winters, has a lifelong
commitment to Catholic
education and has almost
20 years of experience in
teaching and leading at all
grade levels. Together with
the strong school staff and
parish support, St. Jude
School will continue to
live our motto: “Learning
and Living our Faith.”
Submitted by St. Jude Catholic
School, 241 W. 2nd Ave. in
New Lenox. For more information,
call (815) 485-2549,
or visit stjudes.org/school.