Grade 6 students have a "prescribed" wheel. Each quarter their wheel class changes. The classes offered are: technology, study skills, speech, and art. In grades 7 and 8 students select from 26 options for their elective courses. This course changes every quarter. Some of the classes offered in the 2007-2008 school year include: volleyball, technology, cooking, sign language, and art. Students in the middle school also participate in a weekly advisory period.

Support Services

The support Services for instruction include several district and in-house programs.

• Resource program students are identified through standardized test scores and/or teacher recommendation to receive remediation in the areas of phonics, reading, writing, and math. St. Joseph Catholic School employs a resource teacher to deliver services to students during the school day.
• The classroom teacher identifies speech students for screening. A member of the Polk County School District interviews the student and determines if the student qualifies for instruction to correct speech errors. Instruction is provided to qualifying students; however, parents must transport the student to a Polk County Public School and transport the student back to St. Joseph Catholic School. The speech therapist attempts to help the parents by scheduling the class for the first period of the morning.
• Title I. Polk County School District provides instruction for qualifying students. An instructor is placed in a separate classroom for this service.
• Reading enrichment challenges students in grades 1 through 5.. Students are identified through the STAR program and teacher recommendation. Reading comprehension is treated using Accelerated Reader. The resource teacher and a parent volunteer provide this service.
• After School tutoring services are provided for help in homework completion and early childhood phonics. This program is a student peer-tutoring program. In addition, faculty provide tutoring after school.

Curriculum Assessment

Student learning in grades 2-8 are assessed using the nationally normed Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Testing for grades 3-8 takes place in October and testing for grade 2 occurs in the spring. Students at St. Joseph Catholic School consistantly score above average when compared nationally on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

Report Cards

Report cards are issued in grades Pre K4-8. Report cards are issued each semester for students in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten. Formal mandatory parent-teacher conferences are scheduled once a year.

At mid-quarter, portfolios are sent home to parents of students in grades 1-2. Portfolios are sent home at the end of the 1st, 3rd, and 4th quarters for Kindergarten students.

Parents of students in grades 3-8 may check on their child's progress daily via the Edline Program, first instituted in the 2004-2005 school year. Parents are encouraged to confer with teachers by appointment whenever the need arises

Students in the Early Childhood Program are graded using the following evaluation code:

E - Excellent
G - Good
S - Satisfactory Progress
NI-Needs Improvement
U - Unsatisfactory Progress
X - Not assessed at this time

The current grading scale for grades 3-8:

90-100 = A
80-89   = B
70-79   = C
60-69   = D
0  -59   = F

Academic Awards

Special recognition for honor roll begins in the third grade and continues to eighth grade. Honor Roll is given for each marking period. The criteria include:

Principal Honors: No grade lower than 94. No NI's or U's
First Honors: No grade lower than 90. No NI's or U's
Second Honors: No more than two grades from 85-89, all other grades 90 or above. No more than one NI and no U's.
Third Honors: No more than two grades from 80-84, all other 85 or above. No more than one NI and no U's.
Citizenship Award : Follows the four R's - reverent, respectful, responsible, right choices. No NI's, no U's, no more than 5 LOGS (middle school), no conduct referrals
Soaring Eagle Award: Students who have no absences or tardies in a quarter and did not leave and then return to school.