St. Brigid offers ALSO programs (After-school Learning and Service Opportunities) for students in grades 3-8. These are at no cost to families and are sponsored by the school Annual Fund. Some programs include Power of the Pen, Robotics Club, Art Club, School Musical, Yearbook Club, Reader’s Theatre, Walking Club, and more.

Children also have the opportunity to participate in diocesan sports and club sports, which begin in 4th grade (and some intramural teams begin in 2nd grade). Sports include football, volleyball, track, cross country, basketball, baseball/softball, golf, and tennis. There are also other clubs and activities children can participate in including ski club, altar serving, girl/boy scouts, band and choir.

Typically, children in grades K-8 have one specials class every day. In kindergarten, students spend 40 minutes per day in specials; grades 1-8 spend 50 minutes per day in specials. Specials for all grades levels include art, music, physical education, library, and technology.

Spanish instruction for all students begins in kindergarten and continues through 8th grade. Students spend 30 minutes a week in Spanish in kindergarten, and progress to 100 minutes a week in 8th grade. The Spanish program exposes students to the diversity in both the language and culture.

St. Brigid takes safety and security very seriously. All exterior doors are locked throughout the day. Visitors to the school must enter through the main entrance, which is a series of two doors. The exterior door is locked and visitors must ring the doorbell and state their name to be allowed in. There is a video camera that constantly displays in the office showing everyone who wants to enter the door. Parents or visitors then sign in at the front desk and are assigned a visitor sticker so students and staff are aware that they are allowed to be in the building. All other exterior doors remain locked and can be only entered through a staff-owned badge. There are cameras on all doors as well as the playground.

We also regularly hold fire drills, tornado drills, school safety drills, and reverse evacuation drills. Teachers and staff use walkie-talkies for communication during recess and dismissal. We also require all of our staff members and volunteers to have BCI and FBI background checks and to complete a class called Protecting God’s Children.

All K-8 classrooms are staffed with licensed teachers. There is one full-time paraprofessional (aide) per classroom in K – 3rd grade and one part time for each class grades 4 – 8. We have six licensed literacy teachers, and full-time licensed specials teachers (art, technology, band, physical education, Spanish, music and library). Our Academic Support Team includes four full-time intervention specialists, two teachers who are licensed to screen for dyslexia, a licensed speech and occupational therapist, a vision specialist, a full-time registered nurse or clinic aide, a full-time guidance counselor, six educational support assistants, and two math assistants for grades 5-8.

Every student in 3rd-8th grades takes the Terra Nova standardized test each year. When averaging all 2017 scores of every 3rd-8th grade student at Saint Brigid of Kildare School, our percentile scores are as follows, compared to the 2017 diocesan overall percentile scores.

We are a Catholic school first and foremost. Our faith and morals are reflected in our environment, culture, and course content for every grade, every day. Faith components include daily religion class, weekly Mass, daily prayer, and seasonal services such as whole-school rosaries, prayer services, and quarterly CARE (Creating a Respectful Environment) meetings where 8th graders teach faith, kindness, and respect.

We are a two-time National Blue Ribbon School (2008 and 2014), and are the only school in Ohio to receive this award twice in the last 10 years. We had to consistently demonstrate student test scores in the top 15% of the nation to be eligible for the award. Schools are only eligible to receive this award once every five years.

Our curriculum meets and exceeds Ohio state standards. We use courses of study based on Ohio Learning Standards, which are rigorous standards geared toward college and career readiness and are a set of common internationally-benchmarked academic standards.

Our focus is on developing each individual student to his or her fullest potential.  Even though some classes have 35 students, the room is complete with a full-time teacher, an aide and a literacy specialist who assists the entire grade. This puts our staff to student ratio at 1:14 in grades 1-8, 1:12 in kindergarten, and 1:8 or lower in preschool. Teachers do benchmark/pre-assessment testing; based on those pre-assessments, children are separated into smaller groups.  This is done for many subjects, including reading, spelling and math, and allows the teacher to assign work tailored to different learning levels.

We offer a larger group of student support and certified teachers and specialists. We are able to go above and beyond the Diocesan curriculum requirements to provide a higher level of education and learning.

St. Brigid’s tuition structure is cost-based tuition and need-based assistance.  This means that each tuition is based on per pupil cost. Families apply and receive tuition assistance dollars based on calculated need.  Our school does not rely on the parish to help cover the cost for tuition, making our school financially stable for years to come. In working towards maintaining affordable tuition, an endowment fund has been established specifically to support tuition expenses into the future.

Tuition assistance is available for K-8 (no assistance is available for preschool). Diocesan assistance is open to all socioeconomic and religious backgrounds, and St. Brigid assistance is open to all Catholic families. All applications must be submitted and verified online by March 15 each year at www.factstuitionaid.com. More information is available at stbrigidofkildare.com.

Please call the St. Brigid of Kildare School at 614-718-5825 if you would like additional information.