America’s first taxpayer-funded religious school would teach math – and Mass
Kindergartners would be taught to count to 100 and learn the concepts of virtue and sin. Seventh-graders would be taught about ratios and “God’s work in history.” High-schoolers would be required to read staples such as “The Great Gatsby” but could choose their own science electives, such as one that teaches the value of human life from conception.
The curriculum envisioned by St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would be fairly typical for many private Christian schools in the United States, but a first for a taxpayer-supported institution, which has thrust it to the center of a pivotal Supreme Court case. The court appeared open Wednesday to making St. Isidore the nation’s first public religious charter school, a decision that has the potential to redefine American public education and the boundary between church and state.
St. Isidore, which would be open to students of all faiths but plans to consider religion in hiring teachers and staff, describes its program as rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition while meeting the secular requirements of Oklahoma’s state charter agreement. The school would offer Advanced Placement classes and give students the option to concurrently enroll in college courses. Students would also be required to attend Catholic Mass.
“I don’t see anything that would surprise me if it was taught at a private Catholic school,” said Michael Graziano, a professor of religion at the University of Northern Iowa who directs the school’s Institute for Religion and Education. But much of this curriculum would be unprecedented in “what we currently understand to be a public school,” he said.
Lara Schuler, the director of Catholic education at the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, reiterated in an emailed statement that the school’s mission aligns with the standards of the state’s charter-school program, adding that it hopes to “contribute to the great diversity of schooling choices available to parents through Oklahoma’s more than thirty privately operated charter schools.”
St. Isidore posted a 73-page curriculum that details how theology, English, math, science and social studies would be taught from kindergarten through high school. Here’s a look into it.
Science taught through lens of ‘God’s creation’Catholic beliefs about God creating life and the universe are woven into several courses in the proposed science curriculum that otherwise appears relatively standard for parochial and public schools, spanning the basics of laboratory sciences to the periodic table.
Starting in kindergarten, students would be taught to “enjoy and care for God’s creation through the sciences.” A required high school science course describes fundamental concepts of physics, chemistry and astronomy as revealing “God’s orderly creation of the universe.”
St. Isidore states that its human anatomy and physiology class would take a faith-based approach to lessons about the human body and systems, teaching students “the value of human life from the beginnings of a cell, conception and throughout the nine body systems.”
“We will learn that the heart and brain are the first in embryonic development allowing us to know the Truth and to love God as we are made in His image,” the course description states.
Evolution would be taught in a beginner biology course, as is standard in many Catholic school curriculums. An advanced biology course is described as being designed to “dive deeper into the wonderment of life and how God created the complex systems.” A zoology elective aims to “develop a sense of wonder about God’s creation and the animals on our planet earth.”
Elementary school students would be taught about living organisms, rocks and minerals, and ecosystem habitats; middle-schoolers would learn about chemical properties, cell structure and the solar system; and high-schoolers would be required to take physical sciences, biology and a third elective course.
History ‘begins
and ends in God’
St. Isidore describes several goals of its social studies education, many of which focus on religious aspects of history. The curriculum states that students should understand history from “creation to present, through a Catholic concept of the world and man”; they should be able explain the cultural influence of the Catholic Church; and they should be able to “retell how history begins and ends in God.”
The curriculum, especially as described for younger grades, is wide-ranging: Second-graders are expected to learn about ancient civilizations, the geography of the Americas, and American history between the making of a new constitution to the civil rights movement – as well as basic economics and marketplaces. Kindergartners would learn about slavery and the path to American independence.
Social studies classes also would be infused with lessons about how Native Americans were treated and displaced throughout U.S. history, including when the first European explorers arrived in the Americas and westward migration in the 19th century. Elementary-schoolers would also learn about civil rights leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Cesar Chavez and Rosa Parks.
Middle-schoolers would be required to take typical courses about ancient civilizations and the founding of the U.S., with a focus on the role that the Catholic Church and Christianity played throughout history. High-schoolers would also learn about Oklahoma history, as is required by the state, and have the option of taking AP courses in world history, U.S. history and U.S. government. Students could also take electives in financial literacy and global issues.
Theology class encouraging students to pray
As is typical in Catholic schools, theology courses would introduce students to the Christian concept of God and communicating with God through prayer at a young age. Elementary school students would be taught that faith is an essential part of everyday life, and would learn about the different parts of Mass, the lives and history of saints, and the concepts of virtue and sin.
When students reach the eighth grade, their theology class will also focus on personal growth and highlight the natural rights of every individual and the purpose of government, according to the course description. The curriculum does not explicitly outline its sex education standards – and Oklahoma does not require sex education to be taught in public schools – but states that students would learn about “God’s Plan for Marriage and the Family, which would touch on topics such as gender identity, sexual abuse, and resisting temptation.”
Theology classes would continue to be required for eight semesters of high school, and students would be able to choose which electives to take. Some of the offerings include natural theology, Catholic ethics, the Abrahamic faiths and church history.
What’s in English,
math and P.E.
The required reading lists outlined in the high school English language arts curriculum are typically found in classrooms across the country: “The Great Gatsby,” “Macbeth,” “Things Fall Apart” and “The Scarlet Letter.” It also includes Pope John Paul II’s book of poetry, “The Place Within.”
Younger students would study folktales from around the world, famous speeches from Sojourner Truth and Patrick Henry, and poetry from Maya Angelou and Robert Frost.
Math classes would be required every year, with the basics of counting and comparing shapes in kindergarten, basic algebra and geometry in middle school, and trigonometry and probability in high school. It doesn’t appear that AP classes in math are offered, but students are given the option to concurrently enroll in college algebra if they choose.
Students would be required to take physical education courses throughout their time at St. Isidore, and they would receive instruction from a traditional physical education teacher in elementary school. In high school, the P.E. curriculum would also include topics about the relationship between physical, mental and social-emotional health.