Academic Support Center

The Academic Support Center offers individualized help for students with learning disabilities, reading deficits or study and organizational weaknesses. Reading and study skills are often taught through subject areas. The Center is also available for students who wish to improve SAT scores, reading rates, and test-taking skills. Computers with various learning/study skill software packages are available for use. Students may be referred to the Academic Support Center by teachers, teacher-counselors, or guidance staff. Additionally, the diagnostic reading test administered to all new seventh, eighth, and ninth graders at the beginning of each school year is used to determine if the Support Center would be beneficial to selected students.

English

The objective of the English department is to provide students with the oral and written communication skills they will need as they progress in their education; the ability to become critical readers by reading beyond the literal level of a selection; and to help form an appreciation of aesthetics and culture as we struggle to impart the value of global interdependence.

Fine Arts

The Fine Arts department strives to prepare students for an integrated education and appreciation of art, music, drama, and dance. The main objective in studying the arts is to provide aesthetic education. Through study, individual creativity, and participation, the student learns first hand the various elements of composition, technique, and expression. The Fine Arts department provides the opportunity for student to express themselves artistically.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language department strives to develop young people into creative, responsible members of society. The department does this in language classes through the discipline required in mastering the language skills appropriate to each level, and through the appreciation of cultural diversity and global awareness. Students are encouraged to use their language skills willingly and to participate in creative activities in order to foster their proficiency in and their enthusiasm for language learning.

Guidance

In a setting that is individualized and personal, the MSC guidance and counseling programs assist students to learn about themselves, their interpersonal relationships, and behaviors that advance their personal development. The underlying principle of our guidance and counseling programs is the belief that each student is a child of God, who is loved and loving, who possesses a unique dignity and who has a positive contribution to make. Through individual and group work, as well as through established programs, guidance counselors work with students to help them accept and live out this empowering truth.

History & Social Studies

The objective of the History and Social Studies department is to expose students to a body of knowledge and skills that will help them make responsible decisions as adults. Students will be able to interpret data and take action in matters affecting them in social relations, as well as in the political, economic, and cultural affairs of community, country, and world. The department places an emphasis on the development of reading, research, writing, and other social studies skills; exposes each student to a variety of concepts dealing with inter-relationships among nations of the world; helps the student develop an understanding of his/her own culture as well as the cultures of the world; and provides students with a general knowledge of history.

Library Media Center

The Library Media Center is an information and technology center and is viewed as an important resource to foster intellectual growth, spiritual development, and critical thought. As the information center of the school, instruction and consultation is provided in the use of information technology, including print materials, non-print resources, CD-ROM applications and the Internet. Librarians, acting as teachers, information specialists and instructional consultants, help to integrate the media program into the instructional program of the school. By encouraging maximum library usage, they help to combine the current educational curriculum with the information gathering procedures to produce a comprehensive learning process. The Library Media Center is fully automated. Thirty computer workstations are designated for students. Computer resources available include an online catalog to locate materials within the Mount library and Internet access to RI public and college library collections. The library network is also host to several curriculum-based CD-ROM applications, online subscription databases, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office, providing students with Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Mathematics

The main objective of the mathematics curriculum is to provide students with the necessary courses for entry into college degree programs. Acknowledging that many students will change their choice of college majors and eventually their careers, the department works to ensure that each student has the opportunity to be "mathematically literate." This literacy includes the ability to learn and apply critical thinking and problem solving skills, to communicate mathematically by means of a variety of methods, to working in a cooperative setting toward common goals, and to use the technology available in an efficient manner.

Physical Education & Health

The Physical Education department is directed toward the overall growth and formation of students in every aspect of their being: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual. The department strives to aid students in acquiring and maintaining the knowledge and skills necessary to develop an appreciation for physical fitness activities, both lifetime and leisure. It promotes an appreciation of the beneficial effects of these activities needed to live a full and happy lifestyle.

Religious Studies

The Religious Studies Department strives to instruct in an atmosphere combining the spiritual and academic whereby students learn the basics of Catholicism and other faith traditions and to build relationships through discussions and interactions with one another about trust and respect for the opinions and beliefs of others. Through shared prayer and campus ministry activities, students are called upon to deepen their relationship with God, others and self; and by creating a caring atmosphere, the teacher invites students to personal moral growth by modeling listening skills and by confronting selfish attitudes. Community service is stressed at all grade levels and is an integral part of the curriculum.

Science

The goal of the Science department is to offer students of varying abilities the opportunity to obtain a broad-based, comprehensive, six year, laboratory oriented education. Student must be made socially conscious and become aware of such issues as world hunger and disease, respect for life, ecology, and use of resources. They must be made to feel that they can make a difference, albeit small, in both local and world policy. The members of the department incorporate the study of technological advances and help students become more informed decision makers. Students are challenged at all levels; the participation of all students in the science program is encouraged especially in elective courses. The more academically talented student is invited to enroll in honors and advanced placement courses.

Technology

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