As stated in our mission statement, St. Sebastian School is committed to forming morally aware young men and women well-prepared for high school, the university, and beyond through our rigorous academic, technology-oriented program. Thus, Saint Sebastian School provides a comprehensive curriculum that both challenges and prepares students to be well-educated in body, mind, and spirit. Please click on the links below to learn more about our program.

Religion
Kindergarten Curriculum Highlights
Elementary Curriculum Highlights (Grades K-5)
Middle School Curriculum Highlights
High School Prep Program
Fine Arts
Physical Education

Religion
Catholic identity is the core of the educational foundation. Saint Sebastian is committed to providing an environment that embodies the teachings of Jesus. Teachers incorporate the Catholic faith into daily lessons and instill in students a strong moral code that will stay with them throughout their lives. Religion classes are taught in every grade level and meet the Archdiocesan minute requirements. As a school community, students participate in the weekly masses and serve as altar servers and lectors. Each class is responsible for planning several masses throughout the year and leading one paraliturgical celebration. These opportunities to participate in prayer services encourage students to achieve the Schoolwide Learning Expectation (SLE), Serve and Lead as Faithful Catholics.

The Faith First Religion series (2000), taught in Grades K-5, provides a strong foundation for students. The religion units in this textbook series follow the same format each year with similar, age-appropriate content. Students are familiar with the assessment expectations, which help them be more successful and better understand the content. Additionally, Grades 1 and 2 use the Faith First website to enhance instruction. Faith First provides a strong background in church doctrine, sacraments, and church history. Students use the foundation from in Grades 6-8, where students use the Sadlier Faith and Witness series, and learn more about church history, morality and the sacraments.

Kindergarten Curriculum Highlights
Reading
• Open Court
• Word Families
• Decodables
• High Frequency Word Flash Cards
• Applied Reading Strategies (K-5)

Writing
• D’Nealian Handwriting
• Follow the Writing Process (K-8)
• First Name and Last Name
• Numbers
• High Frequency Words

Social Studies
• Demonstrate good citizenship
• Recognize national and state symbols
• Job Descriptions
• Compare/contrast diversity of cultures
• Conceptualize historical events

Science
• Physical, Life, and Earth Sciences
• K-8 Scientific Method: Experimentation/Investigation
• Hands-on activities
• Visuals
• Field trips

Religion
• Daily Prayer / Weekly Mass
• Familiarity with Bible stories
• Recognize our relationship w/God
• Follow Christ’s footsteps
• Participation: Schoolwide community service projects

Math
Number Sense
• Count to 100 or more
• Count by 2s, 5s, and 10s
• Identify numbers 0-100 out of order
• Write 0-100 with no reversals
• Copy patterns ABAB, ABB, ABBC
• Identify money values
• Solve addition facts to 10
• Solve subtraction facts to 10
• Place Value (Tens and Ones)
• Fractions (Whole and half)

Algebra
• Sorting, classifying, identifying

Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability
• Sorting by common attributes: Shape, Size, Color
• Data Collection
• Recording with pictograph
• Solve patterns ABAB, ABB, ABBC

Measurement / Geometry
• Tell time to the hour/half hour
• Calendar: days of the week, months of the year
• Geometric shapes
• Planes and solid objects

Mathematical Reasoning
• Critical Thinking (Problem of the day)
• Use tools, strategies, and manipulatives to model problems
• Explain reasoning (Orally, drawings, number sentence)

Elementary School (K-5) Curriculum Highlights
Coming soon!

Middle SchoolCurriculum Highlights
St. Sebastian School offers a departmentalized schedule for our Middle School Grades. The middle school is departmentalized in the following way: Social Studies/Religion, Math/Science, and Reading/Writing. Students benefit from having a variety of teachers who focus on a particular area.

Each student has three or four teachers for the core subjects. This will prepare students better for the high school days ahead.

Because Math is one of the fundamental core subjects, we have created a Middle School Honors Math Program to give our students a chance to reach their full potential. Smaller grouping allows our teachers to focus better on individual student needs, and the class pace can be accommodated appropriately. Because the classes are divided, math class size does not exceed 20 students and some groups are as small as 12 students.

Our 6th graders prepare for pre-algebra, our 7th graders take Pre-Algebra, and all of our 8th graders take Algebra I. Students who do well in our Honors Algebra I/Algebra I program are able to “pass out” of Algebra I in high school. These students can then begin high school math with Geometry in the 9th grade.

Fine Arts
Music: Education Through Music – Los Angeles (ETM-LA)
We have a fantastic partnership with a music education program based on the successful Education through Music (ETM) model that was started in New York City fifteen years ago. Our ETM-LA director, Victoria Lanier, is Julliard-educated. Moreover, we have teaching artists from Boston University and USC.

Every K-8 student receives quality music instruction:
Kinder and 1st grade: General Music
2nd-4th grade: Violin
5th – 8th grade: Guitar

We have had many special music events throughout the year. We took a group of 7th graders to the Sony Studios in Culver City to watch a scoring session for the summer Pixar blockbuster, Ratatouille. We then had a special visit by Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated Ratatouille composer, Michael Giacchino, who has also composed music for The Incredibles, Lost, Mission: Impossible III, and Alias.

Michael brought in a cellist and visited classes to teach our students about creating mood with music, working in the film industry, and scoring for television and movies. Our students and teachers had a fantastic time watching the scoring process in action and meeting with Mr. Giacchino.

High School Prep Program
Our High School Prep Program includes preparing our students for standardized testing, inviting representatives from local Catholic high schools, and actively guiding students through the high school application process. Although there is an ongoing national debate regarding the proper place for standardized tests, the reality is that our high schools and universities expect students to take these tests to meet entrance and/or graduation requirements. We have a strong relationship with Loyola High School, wherein our students are invited to their campus for six Saturdays in the fall semester for intensive test prep. We also invite local Catholic high school representatives to our campus to give presentations to our junior high students. We also encourage parents to visit local high school Open Houses so they can see the campuses for themselves. Finally, our faculty and staff actively guide not only our students, but our parents as well, through the network of components required by the high school application process.

Physical Eductaion
Coming soon!