St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Elementary School    

St. Robert Bellarmine School History

     St. Robert Bellarmine Parish began on December 12, 1907, when the first Mass was celebrated by Fr. James O'Neill in the Odd Fellows Hall located on San Fernando Road and Olive Avenue.  At that time it was known as Holy Trinity Parish.  The church was erected on the current school property in 1909 and was the first Catholic Church in the San Fernando Valley.   St. Francis Xavier Cabrini frequently attended Mass there.  In 1936 this church became the parish grammar school following the construction of the new church across the street.

     The school opened in September, 1936, with Grades 1 through 4, and had a total enrollment of 88 pupils.  Five Sisters, members of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary located in Dubuque, Iowa, staffed the new school.  By 1938 the school had an enrollment of 185 pupils in eight grades.  In November of that year Bishop Cantwell blessed the school and renamed it St. Robert Bellarmine.  The school continued to grow until, in 1955, it reached a maximum of 646 pupils occupying 12 classrooms.

     In September, 1969, due to a decline in enrollment, four classrooms were converted to other functions.  These former classrooms became the Religion, Learning, Art and Music Centers.  In September, 1979, the Art and Music Centers became the Kindergarten classroom. 

     At the start of the 1987-1988 school year a fundamental change occurred in the administration of the school.  After 51 years of administration by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was, and continues to be, administered by a lay principal, Dr. June Rosena.  Today St. Robert Bellarmine has 12 classrooms: two Kindergarten Classes, Grades 1 through 8, Computer classroom, and a Reading Lab / Library classroom.  The former Religion and Learning Centers are now the Computer / Learning Center and the Reading Lab / Library.  The Computer Center is equipped with the latest in Computer Technology.  In addition, the All Purpose Room now serves as Reading Lab with listening centers and writing stations. All classrooms are equipped with television sets, videocassette recorders, tape recorders and overhead / slide projectors in order to support teaching needs. 

Curriculum

     The curricular program at St. Robert Bellarmine School is centered on the use of texts recommended by the Archdiocese Department of Education.  All Grades, K through 8, utilize the appropriate texts for that grade level.  These texts are selected by the faculty and approved by the Principal.  The curricular program is continuously evaluated by the faculty to assure that all students are making continuous and appropriate progress in the mastery of the material consistent with their grade level learning objectives.  The curricular program is also evaluated on progress reports received from feeder high schools relative to St. Robert Bellarmine graduates attending these schools.  The following subjects are taught from Kindergarten through 8^th Grade.

Religion, Mathematics, Language Arts, Reading, English, Spelling, Handwriting, Social Science, Science, Art, Music, Computer Science, & Physical Education.

Note:  For all grades the following also applies -

Opening / Closing Exercises 50 minutes per week

Recess  Kindergarten-150 minutes per week

Grades 1 through 8-100 minutes per week

Lunch-150 minutes per week

†  School Philosophy †

The statement of philosophy, developed and approved by the Principal, staff, Pastor and school board, is consistent with the needs of the community, the school families and the students served.  The school's goals and objectives that flow from this philosophy are consistent with Catholic philosophy and are systematically reviewed and revised as necessary.  Substantial progress toward attaining these goals and objectives form the basis for an ongoing systematic evaluation and future planning.  St. Robert Bellarmine's approved statement of its philosophy, goals and objectives are as follows:

The basic responsibility of parents is the education of their children.  The faculty and staff of St. Robert Bellarmine understand that this responsibility is extremely difficult to discharge in today's environment. Consequently we believe that with parents and teachers working together, the children will:

~ Be prepared to realize their full God given potential.

~ Have an atmosphere in which they can become self-disciplined and self directed in their pursuit of the future.

~ Be guided spiritually, morally, culturally, socially, intellectually and physically to be able to live confidently in the spirit of Christian life.        

~ Have those opportunities and encouragement to achieve the above.

We recognize that these goals are ambitious and require a scholastic program that must meet the requirements of a highly variegated student body.  However, we are firmly committed to their accomplishment, keeping in mind the aims of Catholic education as stated by the Bishops of the United States: "To Teach as Jesus Did:  Imparting the Gospel Message, Building Community and Giving Service."

There are six (6) definitive goals, which the faculty at St. Robert Bellarmine must achieve to be responsive to the Bishops' directive.  They are: Spiritual, Intellectual, Psychological, Sociological, Physical and Aesthetic.  To meet these definitive goals, the faculty at St. Robert Bellarmine have established the following objectives and course of action to be pursued for each:

Spiritual:  We believe that we impart the Gospel message, develop principles of

Catholicism and a Christian value system, fostering a strong sense of responsibility by the following actions:

~   Beginning each school day with a spiritual communal service integrated with morning flag salute.

~  Bible study and religious education in all classes.

~  Attending class Masses daily on a rotational basis.

~  Classroom bulletin boards which depict special religious events.

~  Actively participating with the Parish Clergy in school events.

~  Encouraging students / parents to become involved in helping others who are less fortunate by providing food, clothing, school supplies and sharing of resources, through various organizations.

~  Teaching students the importance of the "Right to Life” through use of the Family Life series in the classrooms.

~  Teaching respect for each student's uniqueness.

Intellectual:  We believe that we assist the students to become self-disciplined and self directed in their educational pursuits by:

~   Providing an atmosphere conducive to learning.

~  Requiring written and oral reports.

~  Exposing the students to selected guest speakers.

~  Participation in city, state and national contests.  

Psychological:  We believe that we foster an environment conducive to wholeness and

well-being with an attitude of flexibility and openness in all students by:

~   Building self-esteem in all students by accentuating their positive traits.

~  Enforcing classroom discipline so that all may learn.

~  Creating a secure and comfortable environment.

Sociological:  We believe that we develop a concern for social issues and a desire to respect one another by:

~   Exposing students to audio-visual broadcasts in their classrooms of events of topical interest.

Honor Guard, Academic Decathlon and the CYO Sports Program.

~  Inviting Catholic missionaries to address the classes.

~  Shaping awareness through literature, social studies, science and religion classes.

~  Exposing students to other events and situations of those less fortunate.

Physical:  We believe that we develop the students’ confidence in their physical ability

together with a sense of respect and appreciation for their physical well-being by:

~ Having physical education for all grades, and Encouraging physical play at recess and lunch.

Aesthetic:  We believe that we help to develop an appreciation of beauty in the world by:

~   Providing art and music classes for all students.

~  Using a wide variety of audio-visual material.

~  Encouraging participation in speech and drama.

~  Providing band instruction, and

The faculty and staff of St. Robert Bellarmine School, working together with the parents / guardians of the student body, believe these goals can be achieved and will actively strive to attain them.