St. Charles Mission Statement

St. Charles Preparatory School is devoted to providing young men of Central Ohio with a fundamentally sound preparation for adult Catholic/Christian life, specifically for their college or university years. The school’s administration and faculty are committed to
modeling and making clear the importance of a personal relationship with God, accurate learning, and an ethic of disciplined work. St. Charles believes that these three elements are critical components of a competent response to Jesus’ invitation to work toward the complete manifestation of God’s Kingdom.

St. Charles Philosophy and Belief Statement

The school’s academic nature:

The academic curriculum is college preparatory. To this end, the program is shaped to help each student acquire for himself the broad background and wide variety of skills needed for success in higher education.

St. Charles, however, does not serve only the most academically gifted students. It works with those who are able to do at least “C-level” work.

St. Charles succeeds because it is committed to five operating principles:

(1) Involvement by parents in their sons’ work; parents are their children’s first and most influential teachers. What parents do to help their children learn is more important to academic success than the family’s socioeconomic status;

(2) High expectations for student achievement by effective teachers who are in control of their classrooms; teachers who set and communicate high expectations to all their students obtain greater academic performance from those students than those teachers who set low expectations; these expectations about what students can and cannot learn may become self-fulfilling prophecies; students tend to learn as little — or as much — as their teachers expect; many highly successful individuals have above-average but not extraordinary intelligence; accomplishment in a particular activity is often more dependent upon hard work and self-discipline than on innate ability;

(3) Commitment by students to hard work, self-discipline, and personal responsibility to school work both during the day and at home each evening; the amount of time students are actively engaged in learning contributes to their achievement. Student achievement rises significantly when teachers regularly assign homework and students conscientiously do it;

(4) Ensuring a safe and orderly school environment by the efforts of the entire school community; there must be strong instructional leadership, both administrative and teaching, coupled with a safe and orderly school climate;

(5) Students learn in different ways and should be taught with a variety of instructional approaches; student learning should be assessed with a variety of authentic approaches to demonstrate achievement of the stated curriculum goals.

Each student is required to pursue an intensive course of study embracing religion, English, foreign language, social studies, science and mathematics. While individual interest and proficiency play an important part in determining the student’s program, St. Charles is committed to the concept that a true liberal arts education best serves the college-bound graduate.

Traditionally, St. Charles has taken pride in preparing its students for further study. Beyond the mere acquisition of information, the school strives to cultivate lifelong learners—individuals who are motivated to continue learning and who have the basic skills to do so. Standard instruction in reading, viewing, listening and speaking plays an important role in this area. Critical thinking, questioning and tools for research are emphasized throughout the various disciplines and in the total school experience.

In addition, education at St. Charles seeks to provide a wide and varied range of opportunities for individual students to work in depth in an area they choose by interest and qualifications.

Specialization for career purposes is generally delayed until after high school, but regular guidance service encourages strong interests in art, drama, foreign languages, mathematics, music, science, and other areas that can be the basis of elective
courses and independent study.

While a well-rounded background is primary at St. Charles, special talents and inclinations are nourished and promoted, particularly by involvement in specialized co-curricular activities.

The school’s religious nature: St. Charles Preparatory School, founded in 1923 to prepare leaders for the Christian Community, has as its source and purpose the educational mission of the Church. This mission — to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all, to transform mankind into new life in Christ, to train individuals to live consciously faith filled lives as children of God — underpins and enlightens the total school enterprise.

St. Charles finds its definition as a Catholic school in its dedication to develop, nurture, and instill the Gospel of Christ in the minds and lives of its students. While it is proper here to distinguish between the religious purpose and the academic purpose of the school, it is essential to insist that in reality the two do not exist separately. Just as the synthesis of faith and culture is an ultimate goal of a St. Charles education, so too does the person of Jesus Christ permeate the day-to-day operation of the school. His Gospel is the benchmark against which all values are assessed and disciplines taught.

Personal development: Generally the purpose of education is to aid development of the person. More specifically at St. Charles, the program seeks to help each student to attain his personal objectives, to solve his personal problems and to establish his concept of self.

Close cooperation and rapport between home and school make possible greater understanding, more accurate appraisal and complementary efforts in promoting student growth. Ultimately, St. Charles hopes to produce mature, self-determining Christian men who are effective decision-makers. Jesus Christ as the model Christian person is visible in the school environment and is the paramount influence within the school community. The faculty and staff serve as role models of mature

Christian men and women, and are generously available for informal guidance on personal matters. Formal counseling and individual help are offered through the services of trained guidance personnel. Although the student’s personal Christian development depends in large part upon its foundation in the home, individual student direction is also an integral function of the community of faith that is St. Charles.

All progress, academic and otherwise, is intimately related to the total growth and well-being of the learner. This totality embraces a vast array of learning opportunities: general course work, independent study, basic communication skills, physical education and a wide variety of co-curricular activities. Academic experiences at St. Charles are supportive of the personal development of students; the school’s curricula, especially the humanities, includes literature that deals with decision-making. The program of religious studies includes a hierarchy of Christian values which functions as a touchstone for young decision-makers.

The size of the school offers the student maximum access to participation in a broad range of opportunities.

Social development: An essential goal of the St. Charles philosophy is to foster in its students sensitivity toward and expertise in good human relations, and to prepare them
for lifelong participation and leadership in a society where human values become increasingly significant. Numerous programs and activities assist in realizing this goal: various knowledge areas in the social sciences and humanities are geared toward student awareness; a four-year foreign language requirement promotes multicultural appreciation; opportunities to participate in student government encourage peer-group accountability and provide fruitful contributions to the total school community; social interaction within the school, cooperation in co-curricular projects and participation in school social functions all combine to assist the student in developing and refining attitudes and skills necessary for creative human relations.