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| School Philosophy of St. Benedict's
Preparatory School
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Introduction
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| • | Saint Benedict's is a Catholic preparatory school for boys, sponsored by Benedictine monks whose traditions give it a special character. Just as the monastery is a community modeled on the human family, Saint Benedict's is a school "family" to which each student belongs; here he is important, unique and irreplaceable. Because the monks are committed by their vow of stability to their particular abbey for life, the school reflects this permanence, continuity with the past and promise for the future. |
| • | Saint Benedict's is a diverse community of students, lay and religious faculty, parents, alumni and friends, each of whom plays an important role in the life of our school. |
| • | Saint Benedict's is a community rooted in the Christian belief that every human being is of inestimable value as a creature of God - intelligent, feeling and free. Each student has the ability and responsibility to shape his future and to meet the challenges of today's world: the rapid changes in human values and morality, in economic and social patterns, and in religion and technology. In order to meet successfully these and many other challenges, a person must be properly prepared. This preparation is primarily the responsibility of parents. The loving context of a family encourages a child's moral and personal growth as well as his intellectual competence and curiosity. The role of the school is to assist parents in this most important task, working hand-in-hand with them for the benefit of their child. |
| • | "Anything that hurts my brother, hurts me. Whatever helps my brother, helps me." This forms the basis of the Saint Benedict's Covenant. The Covenant expresses itself in trust and openness which are at the heart of relationships. It is a mutual promise and commitment shared by every member of the school: "whenever I am in trouble, you will help me, and you will not let me hurt myself." Accordingly, Saint Benedict's administration and staff, faculty and students expect and attempt to exemplify the highest standards of honesty and integrity. |
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Interrelatonship Among Faculty, School and Student Communities
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| • | Saint Benedict's is part of the city of Newark. Our city is at once full of promise and hope, as well as failure and decay. Its people are striving to grow together beyond the evils which are the causes and effects of racism. In a neighborhood where poverty, AIDS and drugs are commonplace, we also see growth, vision and accomplishment. While Saint Benedict's is at the center of all that is the city of Newark, we are trying to be an exception to much of what goes on around us. We are committed to educating Newark's citizens and its future leaders, imbuing them with a sense of the city's promise as well as its problems, of its future as well as its past. The school's continued presence over the past century is a sign of hope to the people of Newark, and we are striving with them to aspire toward a vision of greatness for our city and its people. We want our students to have a sense of that vision in their own lives, and to be prepared for active roles of leadership in our society, not just for service to our society's needs and trends. |
| • | Because of its location in the center of Newark, Saint Benedict's has a unique mission to bring together young men from city and suburb, from poverty and from middle class backgrounds, from families of many races and nationalities. We see this diversity in our school as something of great value to the learning process, as something to be enjoyed and celebrated, not just accepted or tolerated. In particular, the African-American heritage of so many in our school provides a strong religious dimension to the universal human experience of suffering and tribulation. Saint Benedict's is committed to the Christian ideals of harmony, tolerance and cooperation among people of all racial, economic and religious groups. |
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Relationship of Intellectual and Moral Education
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| • | Saint Benedict's believes that its community of learners should be of diverse talents and varying levels of ability: slower students can learn from faster ones, and, more importantly, the gifted can learn what their responsibilities are to their brothers who are less gifted academically. A basic intellectual competence is required for admission to Saint Benedict's, but there are other important factors that contribute to a student's success: a desire to learn, a willingness to work to develop God-given talents, and the courage to take risks and face challenges. |
| • | As the name "preparatory school" indicates, Saint Benedict's prepares students for the academic demands of college and at the same time fosters the self-motivation and personal responsibility necessary throughout life. |
| • | The development of high academic standards and performance is a major goal for Saint Benedict's. A mastery of basic skills is essential for success in academics and in the world of work. Familiarity with the various realms of knowledge is necessary for a person to be fully mature. He must be able to see the interconnections among, for instance, literature, religion, mathematics, history, science, etc., and to apply in new situations what he has learned. He develops a critical sense with which to analyze and interpret information from a variety of sources including books, mass media, and information technology. He uses technology to become more involved in his local and global community and to prepare him to take an active role in the growing technological economy. |
| • | Good teachers know that intellectual development, like any other worthwhile pursuit, requires hard work and self-discipline. They demand these from their students while at the same time encouraging curiosity and guiding inquiry. Good teachers take a clear stand on issues of moral and social concern and help the students to clarify and commit themselves to a coherent value system. They teach by word and by example Christian values, which include tolerance of many viewpoints. Good teachers know that students learn at different rates and according to different styles. They seek to discover these differences and respect them in their teaching. |
| • | The appreciation of life's aesthetic dimension is central to understanding one's own culture and those of other peoples. The creative spirit must be fostered by training in the various arts, including the visual arts, drama and music. |
| • | The mature person, the goal of the Saint Benedict's education, is one who makes responsible judgments on the basis of his own clear set of values, and who can foresee and accept the consequences of his decisions. He welcomes challenges of all kinds - intellectual, physical and emotional - as opportunities to grow in competence and self-knowledge. The student bears the primary responsibility for his own education and must avail himself of the extra help offered by the school. The St. Benedict's student learns through experience how to work as a member of a group, contributing his talents and efforts to the task at hand while being concerned for other people. He is given opportunities to exercise genuine leadership in the running of the school, in the Group System, and in student activities. He sees himself as a brother to men and women of every nation, every religion and every race. He accepts responsibility as part of his world, his nation, his church, his city and his family; and he tries to understand, participate in and affect the complex political and social processes influencing his life. He uses leisure time in such a way as to contribute to his own well-being and that of others. |
| • | The school provides an ordered and serious environment for learning, including a residence program for a limited number of students. It constantly seeks to strike a balance between challenge and support, between serenity and vitality, and between the needs of the individual and those of the group. |
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Character and Experiential Education
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| • | Since a person often learns better by actually experiencing and doing than by merely reading or hearing about something, the experiential dimension of education is of primary importance. |
| • | Athletic and other non-academic activities and clubs contribute to a student's physical health and to the development of various talents and leisure activities. The visible results and the immediate feedback they offer force participants to face squarely such "grown-up" issues as perseverance, the value of hard work, and ways to deal with frustration and failure. Athletics and extracurricular activities are as important as schoolwork in the educating of a young man. The dedication and commitment these activities demand often provide a challenge more immediate than is usually found in the classroom. |
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Religious Dimension
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| • | Believing that "We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord," Saint Benedict's is characterized by an atmosphere of Christian concern and respect for others. The rich heritage of monasticism and the diverse religious traditions of the faculty and students enrich and highlight the importance of God and faith in human existence and growth, and influence the religious activities in the school. Each school day includes a morning convocation that includes prayers, songs, and a reflection. Groups of students take turns attending the Thursday morning monastic conventual Mass. There is also an all-school Mass of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the school year, and Mass is offered every Friday in the school chapel. Religion courses are required at all grade levels. In addition, one of the monks acts as school chaplain, and the school offers other activities to help students deepen their relationship to God and explore their own spirituality. These include opportunities to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, voluntary retreats and the Fishers of Men program. The Fishers of Men program helps interested students discern a religious vocation and sponsors other religious activities. The school day begins with a song of praise, followed by a scripture reading and an accompanying prayer. On special occasions, liturgical and prayer activities are organized with a faculty member assigned to oversee these functions. Religion courses are required at all grade levels. |
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Student Body
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| • | The majority of the students are from the cities of Newark, East Orange, and Irvington, but a large number are from various outlying towns. Students come from both public and private elementary schools. The racial mixture in the student body reflects approximately that of the city of Newark. To be accepted an applicant must have shown a level of motivation and achievement that gives promise of success in a college preparatory curriculum. Financial aid is available on the basis of need and/or academic merit so that people from lower income families will not find Saint Benedict's beyond their reach. |
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Faculty
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| • | The faculty are well qualified in their subject areas and dedicate themselves with enthusiasm to the work of education. Faculty must give their time and energy if they are going to demand these from their students. A wide variety of teaching styles is expected and encouraged among the faculty, as is constant growth and willingness to improve teaching effectiveness. Saint Benedict's tries to minimize turnover of staff in order to maintain a sense of continuity and stability in the school from year-to-year. All staff members have a crucial role to play as models of mature behavior for the students. |
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Parents
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| • | As the school assists parents in their responsibility for educating their son, it demands in return an active involvement in helping their son fulfill the academic and social demands placed on him by the school. Through the work and activities of the Parents' Organization, the parents themselves provide mutual support and encouragement to each other in such areas as orientation of parents of new students, opportunities to be involved in their son's academic progress and college and career choices. Since Saint Benedict's relies so heavily on fund-raising for its finances, parents are also obliged to participate fully in the activities of the Parents' Organization. |
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Alumni
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| • | Alumni are involved in all phases of the school: as teachers, as parents of students, as financial contributors, and especially as guests and friends who serve as models of success for the present students. The Alumni Association sponsors meetings, reunions, publications and other activities to assure the continued involvement of this valued part of the Saint Benedict's Community. |
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Friends
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| • | The school tries to cultivate the good will and cooperation of a wide circle of friends from the neighborhood, business and academic communities. The Board of Trustees plays a major role in the planning and execution of the school's programs. The Development Office cooperates with parents, alumni and staff to make maximum use of the resources of such friends for a variety of needs from guest lecturers and field trips to financial and other contributions. |
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Academics
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| • | The school year begins with First Term, a time of diagnostic, developmental and enrichment activities. The school itself is divided into three sections: Grades 7-8-9 (Beginners), Upper Division and Senior Year (Members). A student can be retained in grades 7-8-9 or in Upper Division for as long as necessary. A student of any division may take any course for which his counselor and the teacher judge him prepared. As the student advances toward Senior Year he finds more and more course options available. Experiences available through the Network exchange program (see "Student Exchange Programs" below) are considered part of our academic offerings. |
| • | The academic program aims at developing the basic skills of written and oral expression, reading and mathematics. Courses are offered in religion English, mathematics, literature, history and social science, physical sciences, foreign languages, graphic arts, music, and physical education. While including all courses generally needed for college admission, the curriculum is oriented toward preparation for coping with a world of rapid change. Our students come to us with a wide variety of backgrounds and levels of abilities and skills. This diversity offers students the opportunity to learn both how to give help to their peers and to accept it from them. The benefits that come from this interaction are constantly balanced against the benefits that come from grouping students by skill levels. Thus whenever possible students are placed in classes of widely diverging abilities; and in certain subjects, courses are offered on developmental, intermediate and advanced levels. Class sizes vary depending on many factors, but are never larger than will allow for effective individual interchange between teacher and student. All faculty are required to be present after the last class period to continue this interchange. Parents and their sons' teachers may arrange for after-school conferences as the need for these arises. Parents are also encouraged to attend their sons' classes whenever they wish. |
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Technology
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| • | Access to modern technology has become an essential element of education. Because many of the students we serve do not have adequate access to information technology at home, the school provides such access in order that all our students may fully participate in our rapidly evolving technological society. St. Benedict's has created a flexible, open-ended, curriculum-driven technology plan which will empower students and give teachers the tools they need to use technology creatively in the classroom. As a result of this implementation, our students will not only gain technical skills, but also the ability to critically evaluate the information they receive from these new sources. |
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Spring Projects
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| • | Since education and learning should not be limited to classroom work and activities, the Spring Phase in May emphasizes the experiential side of learning by having students actively participate in activities outside the classroom (courtrooms, offices, Appalachian Trail, etc.). These courses are an integral part of the academic program and are required for graduation. These include the major areas of outdoor challenge, social service, urban studies and more traditional subject areas such as science or art. A project helps a student to plan ahead and accept real consequences fot his decisions, to learn how to work with others, and discover new talents and abilities that might not be uncovered in a classroom setting. |
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Network Exchange Program
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| • | The school encourages students to learn more about themselves and about others through participation in The Network of Complementary Schools. Participants may attend courses in any of 28 schools in all parts of the United States, in Canada and Puerto Rico, while giving Saint Benedict's the opportunity to host students from these schools. |
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Student Leadership
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| • | Much of the everyday running of the school is in the hands of the appointed Senior Group Leader and his four "Section Leaders." These, together with the elected Group Leaders, work with the Headmaster to oversee the general discipline and atmosphere of the school, as well as the running of the Group System. |
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The Group System
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| • | Each student is drafted into a group, which consists of about twenty-five students from every age and grade level. A Group Leader is elected to run the group and to represent it at meetings with the Headmaster. Groups, which meet for a period of about forty minutes five times a week, are responsible for cleaning their group's homeroom, for running convocation in the morning, and for assisting their members in academic difficulty. Groups compete and are awarded points based on their academic performance, inter-group athletics, attendance records and discharge of clean-up and other responsibilities. This unique system fosters many of the school's ideals: helping the student to feel "at home" as a member of a small supportive group, to work with and be responsible for others, to exercise leadership and to have some feeling of responsibility for the running of the school. |
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Residence/Boarding Program
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| • | The residence program at St. Benedict's aims to address the needs of students who would benefit from a structured living environment at the school. Those students range from those who lack evening supervision at home, to those encountering more complex issues in the home or neighborhood which keep them from achieving their full potentials. Students who are successful in school and come from stable homes are also welcome. The residence program is designed to provide a family environment that is safe, stable, and nurturing. The school philosophies of leadership and care for one's brother are present throughout all aspects of the program, including daily sit-down dinner and evening prayer with the entire house, and student responsibility for the daily cleaning of the house. |
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Freshman Year Program
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| • | Freshman Year at Saint Benedict's is more than a student's first year of high school. It is the time when the student first experiences many of the most important objectives of the school. It is also designed to be a time during which the student comes to a deeper knowledge and acceptance of himself as a unique, gifted and worthwhile person. Freshman Year begins with the five-day "overnight" at the school in July. This activity, conducted under the supervision of the Senior Group Leader and other student leaders, establishes for the Freshman what St. Benedict's is all about: trust and openness, challenge and teamwork, accomplishment and rewards. This tone is carried into the academic work throughout the year and into special activities for Freshmen. Their particular needs are the subject of periodic meetings with the Headmaster and other faculty members. The culmination of the Freshman Year Program is the Backpacking Project during Spring Phase at the end of the year. |
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The Honor Code
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| • | The Saint Benedict's Honor Code is the published list of regulations by which a student commits himself to respect the rights and property of his schoolmates and of the school community. Trust is a vital part of the spirit of the school (as evidenced by the absence of locks on lockers). The maintaining of an orderly and pleasant atmosphere in the school is the responsibility of the students themselves, with help from faculty and administration. Group Leaders have a major role in this area. The administration of the school keeps track of tardiness, absences and other breaches of good order and takes appropriate action when necessary, but much of the discipline in the school is left to Group Leaders, older students and a core group of administrators. Interpretation and enforcement of the Honor Code for academic issues are entrusted to the Honor Code Committee, which consists of both students and faculty. The Committee's decisions are referred to the Headmaster for approval. Students who consistently fail to cooperate in regard to disciplinary matters may be asked to leave the school. |
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Extracurricular Activities
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| • | Every student is strongly urged to participate in some organized after-school activity or sport as another opportunity to experience commitment to a group and the value of perseverance and conscious effort. Because of the importance of these lessons a student is ordinarily discouraged from "quitting" an activity or sport in the middle of a season. Such activities can develop talents or interests that can be pursued as leisure activities in later years. The school provides interscholastic competition in a large number of sports each season (fall, winter and spring) as well as team sports among the student groups. There are after-school activities in drama, music, school newspaper, yearbook, and literary magazine. |
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Career Development
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| • | The Career Development Center offers seminars, workshops, field trips and roundtables that allow students to develop social and presentation skills, employability skills, and knowledge of career choices. |
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Counseling and College Placement
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| • | The formal guidance staff includes the Head of Guidance, a social worker and school psychologist. This office coordinates crisis intervention, testing for various learning deficiencies, as well as group and individual counseling for various issues (substance abuse, how to cope with a dysfunctional family situation, etc.). Referrals are made through this office to outside agencies. Because a relatively close and on-going relationship with a concerned adult can often make a significant difference in a young man's life, much of the counseling at Saint Benedict's is often informal. Teachers and administrators speak with students in a variety of contexts, including the daily group period, and can refer serious or persistent difficulties to the Guidance Office. College and career counseling is done by the College Counselor, as well as by Group Advisors, coaches and the Headmaster. |
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