All
students in grades 1-8 at Mt. Carmel-Holy
Rosary are on an extended day schedule.
This means that regular dismissal
time on Monday-Thursday is 4:00pm.
On Fridays students are dismissed
at 2:45 PM, and teachers participate
in staff development workshops. Extended
Day increases student-teacher interaction
and allows for more in depth lessons.
It also decreases students' unsupervised
free time after school.
Here is what our teachers
have to say about Extended Day:
"I like the Extended Day Program
because I have more time to help my
students prepare for the NYS ELA,
Math, and Science exams." 4th
Grade Teacher
"I have more time to reinforce
reading comprehension and vocabulary
skills." 6th Grade Teacher
Reading is a top priority at MCHR. MCHR participates in the Accelerated Reader Program, which helps students choose books that fit their reading abilities. Students read books within their level and are given a quiz assessing their retention and comprehension skills. By reading books and scoring well on tests, students move up levels to more advanced books. MCHR rose to the ranks of Model Reading Schools through Carmel Hill Fund’s Renaissance Learning library program. Over the course of 60 days, MCHR maintained an average percent correct of 91.8% while taking 6,486 quizzes.
Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary also participates in the Library Connections Program. Through this four year program Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary has been provided with $150,000 in library resources and teacher training. Our library is equipped with more than 6,500 books. Our full time library teacher integrates our library with classroom assignments and lessons. For instance, a curriculum unit on global warming used library, classroom and computer room resources. Through books, the internet, the movies “Happy Feet” and “March of the Penguins,” and a National Geographic website, students mastered the concept of global warming and vowed to give up hairspray and styrofoam cups. They read, wrote and made posters and dioramas on the topic.
Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary is equipped
with an up-to-date computer lab. MCHR
staff realizes the importance of technology
in the modern world and in the curriculum.
Each classroom has one to three computers. Computer education is applied to everyday
coursework in a meaningful and realistic
manner.
| Education
Through Music and Ten O'Clock Classics |
Education Through Music (ETM) makes comprehensive and sequential music education a reality for students at Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary. All students participate in vocal music and/or violin classes twice a week. These classes teach students the basics of musical performance while integrating music into the academic curriculum. Students give concerts twice a year for family and friends and perform at school and community benefits. Thanks to the success of this program, our violinists were featured on PBS’s Nightly News in the spring of 2008. Through ETM, our students have also performed at highly regarded venues included the Four Seasons Restaurant and the University Club. ETM also brought famed violinist Joshua Bell to MCHR.
Ten O’clock Classics (TOC) provides group violin lessons to our students who wish to pursue violin beyond the fifth grade, as well as performance opportunities alongside professional musicians, and educational outings to concerts and events at venues such as Lincoln Center. Thanks to this program, four of our students were accepted into Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program (MAP) in 2008, which consists of a two-year core curriculum of private lessons, small and large ensembles, and classes in music theory, music history, and creative musical expression. Students are not only enhancing their musical knowledge and violin talents as they learn classical music at MCHR, they are building new skills. TOC also provides our students numerous opportunities to perform in front of large audiences at highly regarded venues, including the Russian Tea Room and the Rainbow Room.
Students have also been featured on Sirius Satellite Radio, WCBS880, Fox 5 News, and 1010 WINS and in Catholic NY and the Daily News. Special visitors to the school have included renowned violinist Joshua bell, American rock band O.A.R. and Goldspot band member Sid Arthur. Additionally, students have performed with “Stand By Me” composer Ben E. King.
In Mad Hot Ballroom, the 2005 documentary, New York City schoolchildren are shown mastering the rumba, fox trot and tango through a unique in-classroom program. Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary School has partnered with Pierre Dulaine’s American Ballroom Theater, and the 4th,5th, and 8th graders are learning the same dance steps featured in the famous movie.
Twice a week, professional dance instructors teach the students the many complicated steps of the merengue, tango, salsa, foxtrot, rumba and swing. As in the documentary, all students in the program have the opportunity to advance to a citywide competition.
In 2007 the students of MCHR won the gold ribbon at the first competition!
The class not only teaches children physical grace as they learn new dances, but it also refines the participants’ communication, cooperation, and team-building skills. In addition, cross-cultural studies of music, language, and art are integrated into the Dancing Classrooms curriculum.
| Creative
Classrooms Visual Arts Program |
Creative Classrooms is a visual arts
program for all grades. A professional
artist/instructor works with each
class once a week and students express
themselves through art projects varying
from pastels of their daily commute
to black watercolor silhouettes of
their fellow classmates. Their artwork
has been displayed at various community
organizations, such as the Metropolitan Hospital.
