Take a look at some of our offerings – and our accomplishments and points of pride over the past year or two.
FAITH
Prayer
We believe in the humility, discipline, and grace that comes from starting and ending every day with prayer.
Daily Religion Classes
Teachers teach the doctrines of Catholicism rooted in Scripture, Tradition, and the teachings of the Catholic Church.
As teachers and students share personal stories during daily religion class, a bond of trust is built. Sharing leads to learning. Students grow spiritually and build a deeper relationship with God. Because teachers talk openly about their own faith life, students learn to do the same.
Teachers are not afraid to step outside the curriculum momentarily for the chance to share a personal experience, teach a life lesson, or challenge students to do the right thing.
Weekly Masses and More
Students have opportunities every day and every week to live their faith at school. They can worship at weekly Masses, pray the rosary, and experience school traditions like our Praise Walk and retreats, complete with silence, meditation, Bible reflections, song, and dance.
2019 8th Grade ACRE Test Results Showed:
- 95% of our 8th graders know they are responsible for making the world a better place
- 85% of students scored above the national average on General Faith Knowledge of the Catholic Church
- 100% of 8th grade students care about helping others.
ACADEMICS
St. Christopher School Accreditation
- Fully accredited through The Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association (we adhere to the Graded Course of Study provided by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati)
St. Christopher School Curriculum
- Approved by the Ohio Department of Education (we are in compliance standards)
St. Christopher School Teachers
- Are fully licensed and certified through the Ohio Department of Education
- Know each student personally
- Become trusted confidants: nurturing adults that students turn to for help inside and outside of school
Specialized Staff at St. Christopher
- Intervention specialists
- Remedial reading teacher
- Guidance counselor
- We also have access to a speech and hearing therapist, school psychologist, physical therapist, vision specialist and other professionals as needed
Honors Reading and Honors Math
- Offered to qualified students in grades 6–8
High-School Level Courses Offered For High School Credit
- Honors geometry: 8th grade
- Spanish: 7th and 8th grades
A Well-Rounded Education
- By participating in art, music, physical education, and computer classes every week, students get the chance to discover and develop new talents that might otherwise remain unexplored
School Library
- Students check out books weekly
Traditional Class Field Trips
- Camp Kern three-day trip for 6th graders
- Athletes in Action challenge course and cooperative activities for 7th graders
- Washington, D.C., trip for 8th graders
Other Field Trips
- Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm
- Carillon Historical Park
- Cincinnati Zoo
- Dayton Philharmonic concerts via SPARK (School Partners with Artists Reaching Kids)
- Maria Stein retreat house
- Newport Aquarium
- Science Day at Kings Island
- SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park
- US Air Force Museum
- Vandalia Maintenance Garage
- Water treatment plant
Students Who Are Struggling Are Never Forgotten, Lost, or Left Behind
- If a student needs extra attention, teachers unite and decide what they can do together to help a student succeed
- Because teachers care, they never give up
- Before long, a student who said, “I can’t!” now says, “I can!”
2018-2019 School Year
- Chris 8th grade, class of 2019, had a grade equivalent score of 13.0 on the IOWA Test of Basic Skills
- Chris 7th grade, class of 2020, had a grade equivalent score of 11.8 on the IOWA Test of Basic Skills
- Chris 6th grade, class of 2021, had a grade equivalent score of 7.8 on the IOWA Test of Basic Skills
- Chris 5th grade, class of 2022, had a grade equivalent score of 7.0 on the IOWA Test of Basic Skills
(The strength and knowledge of our students increases dramatically the longer they attend St. Chris)
December 2019
- Chris 3rd graders scored in the 83rd percentile on the IOWA Reading Assessment Test
- 60% of the 8th grade made the Principal’s List or A Honor Roll
- 20 out of 30 8th graders are placed in Algebra I or Geometry
- Over 50% of our 7th/8th grade students are taking Spanish
- The parents of our kindergarten classes gave our kindergarten program a 9.25 rating out of 10, indicating it is Highly Likely they would recommend our program to others.
Did you Know?
- 27 out of 38 St. Chris alumni (Class of 2015) graduated from either Vandalia-Butler or Chaminade-Julienne in 2019. 17 of these 27 were National Honor Society members, 17 were awarded some form of a college scholarship, 15 out of the 15 alums that graduated from CJ began college this Fall.
- From the Vandalia-Butler graduation class of 2018, St. Chris alumni stats included 8 out of 11 National Honor Society members and 9 out of 11 receiving some form of college scholarship.
- For four consecutive years, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 a St. Chris alum has been a Semi-finalist or Finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Program at their respective high school.
EXTRACURRICULARS
Montgomery County Science Day qualifiers from St. Christopher (2018-2019 school year)
- 9 students participated in the County Science Fair With 7 receiving a Superior Rating
- 5 students continued on to the District Fair with 2 qualifying for the State Science Day
National Geographic Bee
Dayton Area Catholic Schools Spelling Bee
Grade School Band
- Offered to St. Christopher students in grades 4–8
CYO sports (Catholic Youth Organization)
- Offered to St. Christopher students in grades 4–8 (golf, basketball, volleyball, track, and soccer
CYO Sports Highlights:
STEM Club
- An after school club with the stated goals:
- Team Building and cooperative skills
- Utilization of the engineering design process – brainstorming solutions to problems, creating plans, executing and testing final designs
- Reflection, communication and exploration of redesign and final design.
St. Chris Players
- An after school theater club for St. Christopher students only with the stated goals:
- Self-Confidence: Throughout the rehearsal and performance process, young performers discover how to take creative and emotional risks and learn to trust their abilities.
- Literacy: Students increase reading and writing skills at their own pace by immersing themselves in the story, reading and re-reading their scripts, memorizing their lines and taking notes at rehearsal.
- Communication: During rehearsals, students learn how to articulate their thoughts and questions. They must carefully listen to direction in order to improve their performances.
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: The amount of work required to successfully put on a show makes all participants valuable troubleshooters. Whether inventing mnemonics to remember lines, adjusting staging to show off everyone’s faces or mastering a tricky scene change, students have countless opportunities to creatively tackle challenges.
- Self-Discipline: Through prompt attendance at rehearsals and learning lines, music and choreography on schedule, students acquire valuable self-discipline techniques and become reliable and trustworthy members of an ensemble.
- Public Speaking: Whether performing for their peers during rehearsal or for their school and local community during a performance, students gain expertise and confidence speaking in front of a group.
- Curricular Integration: A musical provides a rich and engaging springboard for students to explore many subjects in their classrooms and discover connections among various modes of learning.
- Teamwork: Theater requires extensive creative input from all its participants. Students build ensemble by working together to rehearse, construct, promote and perform their show. Every role – whether onstage or behind the scenes – is vital for the show’s success.
LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE
Young Leaders
Our youngest students get their first taste of leadership when they are asked to read at Mass. Because students get leadership experiences early and in every grade, leadership is a skill that is well-developed here. As students get better at leadership, they get better at making decisions.
Prayer Families
Each year we form dozens of new Prayer Families at St. Christopher: student groups with a few children from each grade.
Older students in each Prayer Family accept the responsibility to care for younger students in their Prayer Family during weekly Masses, assemblies, and all-school programs and service projects.
Because students feel connected to other students from every grade, Prayer Families unite our entire school.
United by a cause, individual students and entire classrooms learn how to put the needs of others first, make personal connections with people who are less fortunate, and improve lives
Student Council
- A service oriented and leadership organization for grades 4-8. They support many service projects such as the Vandalia-Butler Food Pantry, St. Vincent de Paul, and Dayton Children’s Hospital. Student Council also leads our Praise Walks, Pep Rallies and guides Catholic Schools Week activities.
Art Service
- Sold custom artwork and donated the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders and House of Bread
Heart Healthy Challenge Walk
