Press Releases:
There are a lot of things to be excited about at St. Dominic School! Read below for some of the Newsworthy stories.
Groves Literacy in the News
Northfield, MN December 2024
Check out this interview on WCCO Radio with Deborah Sundal -Our Children are Facing a Literacy Crisis. Unlike the national Average of 33% of 4th graders reading at grade level, 95% of St. Dominic School students are reading at or above grade level! St. Dominic School has been a partner with Groves Academy through our Believe and Read Program since 2019!. Learn more and listen to this interview HERE.
St. Dominic School Partners with Groves Academy in Literacy
Northfield, MN, November 13, 2019 —The Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (CSCOE), a nonprofit organization with a two-part mission of achieving excellence and increasing student enrollment in Catholic elementary schools has named St. Dominic School a Believe and Read school.
Believe and Read seeks to transform the lives of thousands of students by bringing a best-in-class literacy program to 20 Catholic elementary schools across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Powered by CSCOE, and in partnership with Groves Academy, a national expert in reading instruction, and Cretin-Derham Hall Catholic High School, the goal of Believe and Read is to ensure every student is at or above grade level reading – because we believe that God calls every child to greatness!
How Believe and Read works:
● Literacy coaches from Groves Academy will work with our teachers (K-2 in 2019-20, and K-3 starting 2020-21) over a three-year period using a “train the trainer” model.
● In addition to building students’ vocabulary and comprehension skills through their regular reading lesson, teachers will be tasked with incorporating a daily 30-minute phonics-based lesson to ensure students are grasping the reading rules they’ll need to one day achieve fluency.
● Many of the lesson plans are scripted, so teachers will know exactly how and when to introduce
leach letter, along with its sounds, and how to build up to words from there.
● Our teachers will also get weekly check-ins with a literacy coach from Groves Academy, along with support tracking student progress through routine assessments.
As with any new change or new initiative, we understand that you may have questions. Feel free to contact the school office at 507-645-8136 to learn more about the program.
MNSAA Renews St. Dominic Catholic School’s Accreditation for 2019-2026
Northfield, MN, May 23, 2019 —The Minnesota Nonpublic School Accrediting Association (MNSAA) has renewed the accreditation of St. Dominic Catholic School in Northfield for the eligibility period of 2019 to 2026. Accreditation is a voluntary method of quality assurance with a goal to evaluate, validate, and improve each school’s quality.
MNSAA is a federally recognized and state-sanctioned nonprofit association for accrediting nonpublic schools in the State of Minnesota. The Association’s mission is to be a catalyst for enhancing the quality of K-12 nonpublic education in Minnesota through a comprehensive process of accreditation. Our agency helps schools provide quality nonpublic education for the children of Minnesota for its member schools. MNSAA is governed by a member-elected Board of Directors that bases its accreditation on a school’s evaluation through a self-study process.
Schools are accredited based on their compliance with a set of rigorous standards that identify essential curriculum, instruction, personnel, governance, facility, and marketing policies and practices that are considered necessary for an effective school. The accreditation process includes the creation of a visionary and focused strategic plan for improvement and an onsite visit by a team of educators from member schools. Accreditation with MNSAA relies heavily on how the individual school defines its mission and the way it seeks to accomplish that mission.
MNSAA is pleased to have St. Dominic Catholic School join some of the more than 160 accredited schools that make up the Association. MNSAA salutes St. Dominic’s commitment to providing an outstanding education to the children of this community. MNSAA will continue to provide guidance to the St. Dominic School through an annual review of its strategic plan.