Saint Catherine School Alumni Beyond Graduation

Saint Catherine of Siena School in Norwood is celebrating its 90th birthday this year. Since 1926, St. Catherine has educated thousands of children from pre-school through the eighth grade. After 90 years of dedication forming students in their faith through Catholic virtues and values along with a rigorous academic curriculum, we asked our alumni to speak out about what their Catholic education means to them.

Our current eighth graders, the Class of 2017, have accomplished major achievements thanks to the diligent pursuit of their studies and the tireless work of the teachers at Saint Catherine of Siena School. Students continue to score in the top percentiles on private school placement exams, receive letters of acceptance into their top choices for high school, participate in honors and advanced levels in their future high school courses, earn merit scholarships, earn above-average percentiles on standardized tests and act as role models for our younger students.

Last year the Class of 2016 received over $500,000 dollars in merit scholarship to attend their top choice private high schools! However, the scholarships do not end there. Many Saint Catherine’s alumni continue to receive scholarships and honors into their college years. One 2012 SCS graduate who attended a private Catholic high school after leaving Saint Catherine School recently received the Cardinal Medeiros Scholarship to attend Boston University. This prestigious award pays for all four years of her college education.

Others look toward the armed forces, like Brendan McCarthy, a graduate of Saint Catherine School. Brendan’s top choice for college is the Coast Guard Academy, where he hopes to play rugby and football. Brendan is a member of both the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society at Xaverian Brother’s High School. In addition, he is in honors level math classes, which he credits to Saint Catherine’s rigorous program and its skilled teachers. After taking Spanish at Saint Catherine Middle School with Senora Pelaggi, Brendan felt well prepared to take Honors Spanish class at Xaverian Brothers High School. Since Brendan’s graduation from SCS in 2014, the foreign language program at Saint Catherine’s has grown tremendously For the first time last Spring, 33 students from Saint Catherine Middle School took the National Spanish Language Examination, earning 8 silver medals and 22 bronze medals! Currently Spanish and even Mandarin Chinese are offered to the youngest students in pre-school.

Saint Catherine of Siena School’s graduates also include young entrepreneurs like Kaitlin McCarthy. Kaitlin, a freshman at Endicott College, the founder of Your Advocate which trains parents on how to advocate for their children and works with families who have a child with special needs to help them find an educational advocate. Growing up with dyslexia, Kaitlin faced the everyday challenges of learning differently. During her time at St Catherine School, she remembers the learning environment that allowed her to thrive despite her learning disability. “Thanks to Saint Catherine’s Learning Resource teachers, I was able to continue my education in a private school setting. The teachers were incredibly accommodating and took a personal interest in my special learning needs. I received many of the services that the public school would have given me. This is incredible because under federal law, private schools are not obligated to serve students with special needs, Saint Catherine’s teachers continuously went out of their way to help and provide a setting in which I could perform well in.”

In Saint Catherine’s Middle School, a Study Skills class, taught by teacher Bath Standring, has been successful in helping students identify what kind of learner they are, how to prepare for tests and assignments, and how to manage their busy schedules. These life lessons prepare students for their future educational needs in high school, college and everyday life. Middle School students even receive an additional 6th period of math each week, giving them an edge compared to their counterparts in other middle schools. Because Algebra I is taught in the grade eight, most students are able to enter an Honors track in high school and can start in Algebra II, in Grade 9.

Providence College freshman, Alexandra Shute, who is majoring in Biology in preparation for Pre-Med studies, attended Saint Catherine’s from Kindergarten through 7th grade. She graduated Ursuline Academy last year. Shute explained her experience at Saint Catherine in one word, “Impactful”. The values that you learn in elementary and middle school at Saint Catherine’s have helped me become the person I am today. We learn values of respect, love, and most importantly treating people the way you want to be treated. The school’s mission of ‘See Christ in others and be Christ for others’ is transferable to everyday life and is how I try to live my life.” Also at Providence College, 2009 graduate Rob Degree, is pursuing religious studies. He plans to join the Dominican Friars after graduation and says that studying his faith was one of the greatest decisions he has ever made.

Since the graduation of many Saint Catherine alumni, major technological advances have enhanced student life. Few private schools in the area offer these advances. Google Chromebooks are used in the elementary curriculum weekly. Standardized testing is done twice a year on the Chromebooks beginning in Kindergarten through fifth grade. Middle School students have been using iPads since 2012 for their textbooks and other applications. Students are allowed to bring them home over vacations and weekends so that they can work on their projects and studies. Next year, the Middle School students will use Chromebooks for the same purposes.

After talking with SCS graduates, it is clear that their elementary and middle school education has had a major impact on their lives well beyond graduation. They serve their communities, country, families and friends, as they continue to grow academically, spiritually and personally. We wish them well in their future studies and a happy and healthy life, filled with the many blessings to come! If you are interested in Saint Catherine of Siena School for your child, please contact Linda Canniff, Director of Admissions, at (781) 769-5354.