Junior High Curriculum Overview

The junior high teachers foster an atmosphere of respect and integrity for our junior high students, which is clearly evident when you meet them. The Discipline with Purpose school-wide program is employed to encourage responsibility and respect in our students. The last DWP skill of service to others is particularly emphasized in seventh and eighth grades.

Students also attend enrichment classes taught by certified teachers for Spanish, library, STEM, and P.E.

Seventh and eighth grade are years of growing responsibility in preparation for high school; they are the bridge years between junior high and high school. Students transition between various rooms for instruction; they learn to study, take notes, and are fully responsible for their learning. They are taught and challenged to advocate for themselves.

At St. John Bosco, students are explicitly taught the Student Learning Expectations, known as LASER Skills: Life-Long Learners, Active Catholics, Self-Aware Individuals, Effective Communicators and Responsible Citizens. Developed on campus from Pre-K through 8th grade, mastery of each skill is expected upon completion of junior high. They are defined as what students should know, understand, value, and achieve by graduation.

Student planners are mandatory in seventh and eighth grade. Regular checks occur to ensure students have mastered the necessary habit of recording both short- and long-term assignments. In junior high, students practice the skills of goal-setting and time management, life-long skills that create independent, efficient and successful young men and women.

The junior high team is dedicated to educating the whole child. Students are taught to strive for academic excellence and are instilled with the lifelong joy of serving others, all within the traditions of our Catholic faith. Through weekly junior high team meetings, weekly newsletters, Google Classroom and RenWeb (electronic grade book portal), consistent weekly communications between junior high teachers and parents, the primary educators, result in a complete curriculum. Our students routinely test into honors courses and our alumni report being highly prepared for high school.

In addition to a highly-qualified faculty and staff, students are blessed with numerous resources including SmartBoards, one-to-one Chromebooks, Z-Space, Google Classroom, and opportunities to take curriculum-specific field trips. To enhance differentiated instruction, students utilize Accelerated Reader and IXL online learning systems.

Junior high teaches based on Diocese of Phoenix Curriculum Guidelines that include: