The Center of a Catholic School

According to the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools (NSBECS) set forth by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA), which are used by our Catholic school educators as a guiding star for providing an excellent Catholic education, "Catholic schools exist to provide excellent education in a faith-filled environment, centered in the person of Jesus Christ. This is their mission and their mandate." The first benchmark, Standard 1, states that "an excellent Catholic school is driven and guided by a clearly communicated mission that embraces a Catholic identity that includes gospel values, a focus on the Eucharist, and a commitment to communal faith formation, academic excellence, missionary discipleship, and service."

At the very center of St. Stanislaus Catholic School in Modesto sits a chapel. On the very first day of every school year, students and staff process with Jesus to that chapel, where He remains with them as they learn and grow until the following summer. This is a beautiful reminder of the very nature of a Catholic school and why they exist as stated in the NSBECS. Everything they do must always be centered around Jesus, whose physical presence promotes a devotion and closeness to Him that is unique to this environment. 



Learn more about the NSBECS here and St. Stanislaus Catholic School here.