ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL LEARNING

So that all Minnesota students have access to high-quality content and instruction, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) articulates specific learning expectations for all students, setting clear standards for the subjects and content taught in Minnesota schools. These Academic Standards define what every Minnesota child should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. It also sets measures for their achievement. Holy Cross meets all state standards for curriculum requirements for English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, health and physical education.

These standards and benchmarks are important because they:

1. identify the knowledge and skills that all students must achieve by the end of a grade level
2. help define course credit requirements
3. serve as a guide for designing curricula in schools

Our student mastery of the standards is measured through annual assessment tests that serve as a report card to schools about how we are teaching and how our students are performing.

Capstone Trip to Washington D.C.

Every other year, we offer all Seventh and Eighth Grade Students a Capstone Trip to Washington, D.C. to culminate and celebrate their efforts and achievement Hoply Cross before the transition to high school. This trip occurs in the fall and advances our school’s mission, serving as a memorable experience for our classes and giving them a lesson in history and civics at work.

While the tour schedule varies each year, our students visit sites such as Gettysburg, The Holocaust Museum, The Smithsonian Museums, many monuments including the Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Vietnam and WWII Memorials, Ford’s Theater, The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agency, Arlington National Cemetery, Mount Vernon, The Secret Service, our Nation’s Capital, The Supreme Court, and, when possible, visits to our Minnesota Representatives and Senators.

These are just a few of the exciting experiences that will forever impact their lives on this learning experience of a lifetime.