Our Lady
Comforter of the Afflicted School
Accredited by the New England Association of
Schools & Colleges
Waltham
school to bring Spanish instruction to all grades
Beginning
this fall, all students at Our Lady Comforter of the
Beginning in the
2007-2008 school year, the school has announced that it will
teach Spanish to all its students -- from its new pre-K program through
grade eight.
“Especially with the
world being as global as it is, it is extremely important to learn a
second language,” said
According to Minor,
Spanish was chosen to be the foreign language taught at the school
after she conducted several surveys, both to the faculty and to the
larger parish community.
“Spanish just seemed
overwhelmingly the language people were most likely to need in their
everyday lives,” she said. “We are excited, therefore, to be able to
bring Spanish to our entire student body.”
Minor said that three
different teachers would instruct students in Spanish. Use of the
language will be incorporated into the daily routine of the pre-K
program being launched in September, and older students will receive
instruction several times per week.
While the addition of the
Spanish-language program is “exciting,” she continued, this is but one
of many changes happening at the school this year.
The principal pointed to
her school’s motto: “Our Lady’s a school on the move,” to indicate her
philosophy of the transitions occurring in the school.
“Our Lady’s is going
through a whole-school change,” she explained.
Relying on her experience
as a principal in the
“I knew everything that
needed to be done here to become a model Catholic school,” Minor stated.
First she created more
opportunities for professional development for the teachers as well as
materials and supports for the teachers. Next, she conducted surveys
among the students and their families to determine how to best address
the needs of the school.
Likening educators to
physicians, Minor described the role of a teacher as “diagnosticians of
what students need and what needs to be done.”
In order to involve the
faculty, Minor created “teams” of teachers that would look at
individual students’ needs and suggest ways to “improve each student’s
education experience in the school.”
“We wanted to make sure
that we are addressing all the needs of all the children in this
school,” she stated, “not just the struggling students, but all the
students even the most advanced.”
One result is the
implementation of a new, schoolwide
math curriculum -- one in which advanced students can skip ahead to
their appropriate academic level and students who need more help are
not pulled out of the classroom, but rather receive extra help from a
resource room teacher.
The science department
has seen a revamping as well, with students receiving both traditional
science and “hands-on laboratory time.”
The reading curriculum
has also seen changes. Students now are grouped based on reading levels
and independent reading is encouraged.
“We are taking children
where they are and moving them to a higher level,” Minor said.
“It’s phenomenal how the
school is changing and how receptive the teachers have been to these
changes,” she said.
She noted that there is a
renewed interest in the school in the community, with several families
considering sending their children to the school in the coming year.
Although enrollment stands at around 220 students, Minor believes
several more students will likely attend the school next year.
“I’m excited about what’s happening here,” she continued. “And the most
important thing is that the students are learning.”