Junior High

Eighth grade students continue to master Latin roots, syntax, and vocabulary while translating increasingly complex sentences and stories about Roman history and mythology.  Students continue their studies of Roman culture with a focus on Roman values, mythology, daily life, and basic Roman history.  Students will also continue to deepen and broaden their knowledge of Roman history and culture, English derivatives, and prayers of the Church in Latin. Students will encounter Latin’s enduring appeal in the beauty of accessible primary sources.  

This seventh-grade math class allows students to master the fundamental math skills needed for Algebra.  Students will work with topics such as integers, solving equations and inequalities, decimals and equations, operations with rational numbers, the coordinate grid, ratios, proportions, and percents.   

This eighth-grade math class follows Pre-Algebra A, and students continue to master essential mathematical concepts.  Students will work with equation solving, operations with rational numbers, proportions, graphing, measurement and conversions, and right triangles. 

This accelerated math class is for seventh grade students who have demonstrated a solid understanding of basic arithmetic with fractions, decimals, and integers and have demonstrated strong problem solving skills.  Students in this class will complete both the Pre-Algebra A and B curricula in this accelerated course.  This class will include rational numbers, evaluating expressions, solving equations and inequalities, writing equations and inequalities to solve problems, measurement and conversions, linear graphs, surface area and volume, and data analysis and probability.   

This class is for eighth grade students who have completed the accelerated Pre-Algebra AB course.  This course mirrors the Geometry offered at St. Cecilia but is taught in the junior high classroom.  This course leads students to the mastery of inductive, deductive, and statistical reasoning through problem solving, hands-on activities, and assiduous study of Book 1 of Euclid's Elements. Students master the essential topics of Euclidean geometry—plane and solid geometry, triangle trigonometry and transformations—as well as elements of descriptive statistics, including graphical displays of one- and two-variable data sets of both categorical and quantitative variables. Most importantly, students learn to reason logically and critically as a foundation for higher mathematical thinking. 

 

With permission, a student who has demonstrated exceptional mathematical progress may be able to take this course as a seventh grader.  

Algebra 1 stresses both the structure of algebra and the development of problem-solving skills. Students gain competence in working with real numbers to solve problems. The concept of a function is introduced, and students learn about a variety of parent functions. Topics include algebraic language, operations with signed numbers, inequalities, exponents and radicals, polynomials, factoring, functions and graphs, domain and range, quadratic equations, and exponential functions. This is offered in the 9-12 program at St. Cecilia Academy; with permission, a student may be able to take this course as an eighth grader.  

Seventh grade religion focuses on the Gospels, the New Testament, and the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.  Students will focus on the person of Jesus Christ as the Savior, Who reveals us to ourselves and study the sacraments as the ways that God draws us into His Trinitarian life through the Church. Students will be introduced to the idea of the dignity of the human person and Christian anthropology. Students will seek to explore the questions: Who am I and who is Jesus Christ? Students will be introduced to the role of the virtues. They will study St. Cecilia and explore her virtues and witness. Students will study parts of the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles while recognizing what it means to live as missionary disciples of Jesus. Themes studied throughout the year will be integrated and deepened through age-appropriate study of Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.  

Eighth grade religion consists of four integrated parts, culminating in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Through the study of Faith in the Triune God, Church History, and Catholic Social Teaching students will be invited to connect the study of the Trinitarian communion to their relationship with God, the saints, and those with whom they share this life with its contemporary challenges. They will study the meaning and effects of Confirmation and the call to respond to God’s grace through this sacrament that strengthens the Christian in the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

In Physical Science, eighth grade students learn the fundamental principles of chemistry and physics including the properties and classification of matter, atomic structure, elements and compounds, chemical bonding and reactions, the periodic table, Newton’s laws of motion, force, and energy, and electric charges. Particular attention is also given to reinforcing units and uses of the metric system in anticipation of physics in the ninth grade.