About US
Los Angeles’s St. Mary Elementary School is a private school. It is coed and Roman Catholic affiliated, serving 300 students in grades K-8.
SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of St. Mary Elementary School is to educate youth in East Los Angeles and surrounding areas in a holistic manner, faithful to the Catholic tradition and to the Preventive System of St. John Bosco which is the Salesian method of education. It strives to create a school with a family spirit, emphasizing Reason, Religion, and Loving-Kindness in a positive atmosphere of discipline, friendliness, and cheerfulness.
SCHOOL VISION STATEMENT
St. Mary School envisions to achieve its mission statement by setting high academic standards and transparency in the integration of faith and learning. The school works closely with and through the families of our students, adhering to programs that follow the Salesian pedagogical model. It imparts knowledge, ensures safety, and develops discipline. It forms the young to become good Christians and upright citizens, empowering them with a joyful vision and hope of a better world.
PHILOSOPHY OF ST. MARY SCHOOL
Here at St. Mary School we find the very reason for our existence to be in the integral education of children. St. Mary School is committed to transmitting our Catholic heritage to our students and enabling them to experience the Gospel in daily life.
We recognize that “parents are the first and foremost educators of their children.” Our purpose, then, as Catholic educators, is to serve as partners of the parents in educating our students.
Building and living in a community of faith is a primary goal for our school. We animate the educating community – students, parents, teachers, staff, sisters, and clergy – so that together we can enable our school “to integrate religious truth and value with life, the parish, the neighborhood, the local – civic community, and the world, and begin to respond to the obligation of Christian service through joint action.
We believe that the specific function of a Catholic School is to develop the human powers of each student – religious, moral, academic, psychological, cultural, social, physical, and aesthetic – thus preparing our young people “to open themselves more to reality and to form in themselves a clear idea of life.” * We aim to guide the young to acquire the basic tools needed to continue their education and lay the foundation for a useful, productive life. We aim also to lead them gradually to exercise right judgment, make free and responsible choices, and “use their gifts and talents in service of others.”
To Teach As Jesus Did, A Pastoral Message on Catholic Education, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, November, 1972.