Our Model

All are Beloved Children of God

St. John Paul II Catholic School offers individualized, faith-based education to scholars, many of whom live in challenging circumstances. We serve the whole child by building a network of support for families in need with our community partners. Our social-emotional learning curriculum provides scholars with tools for personal interaction, self discipline and confidence that they will use for a lifetime. We assess our scholars three times each school year to ensure that they are growing and moving toward proficiency and beyond in reading and math. Each child leaves our school knowing that they are a beloved child of God with special gifts and talents to share with the communities to which we all belong.

We are a Member of Ascension Catholic Academy

Ascension Catholic Academy is a consortium of schools formed in August 2016. The Academy provides centralized leadership and governance in multiple schools to deliver academic excellence and coordinated efforts to serve the whole child. It is the result of more than a year of study by Ascension and its partners on the best strategy to ensure excellence and sustainability in Catholic schools serving the highest portions of low-income scholars and families in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.

Four schools are currently in the consortium: St. Peter Claver and St. Pascal Regional Catholic School in St. Paul and St. John Paul II and Ascension Catholic School in Minneapolis. Each of these schools serves scholars who primarily come from diverse backgrounds, with a large majority in need of additional academic and social support.

We use Data to Ensure Scholars are Moving Forward

Individual learning plans are made for each scholar based on his or her specific academic needs. Assessments given three times each school year measure their progress and pinpoint specific areas of need.

We use the Higher-Powered Learning Program, administered by the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame. The program oversees implementation of blended learning, in which students use adaptive, online software in classrooms to master material at levels that match their skills and teachers use data from these programs to personalize instruction. Combining the benefits of learning through technology with traditional education methods brings scholars forward at a faster pace.