Personalized Learning at Holy Family

Through personalized learning, Holy Family empowers students to take ownership of their learning to ensure engagement, growth and preparedness for the future.

Personalized Learning at Holy Family

Through personalized learning, Holy Family empowers students to take ownership of their learning to ensure engagement, growth and preparedness for the future.

Personalized Learning at Holy Family

Through personalized learning, Holy Family empowers students to take ownership of their learning to ensure engagement, growth and preparedness for the future.

As personalized learning emerges as a leading research-based educational model – and as part of our commitment to ensuring every Holy Family student leaves our schools with the knowledge and skills to be college, career and citizenship ready – Holy Family is proud to offer a personalized approach to education.

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Contact Rebecca Mueller
Director of Enrollment

563-582-5456 or rmueller@holyfamilydbq.org

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What is Personalized Learning?

At Holy Family, our Personalized Learning approach recognizes that every student is a gift from God, and they come to us with unique backgrounds, individual needs and interests. Our teachers and school leaders partner with your family, getting to know your children to create a learning experience that will prepare them to become the best versions of themselves.

 

In every personalized learning classroom, students engage in hands-on, project-based learning to practice and develop Cognitive Skills that will set them apart in college, career and life.

 

Using the Self-Directed Learning Cycle, students master content by employing the learning strategies that suit them best, while also leveraging small and large-group instruction and peer collaboration.

 

Through one-on-one mentoring, they build the key Habits of Success proven to support academic achievement and well-being, while learning how to set and achieve SMART goals.

 

Working with community partners, Holy Family students are empowered to employ their God-given gifts as they enhance their sense of purpose in the world by exploring interests and serving the needs of our community.

 

The Benefits:

Personalized learning provides that every individual, upon reaching adulthood, will be equipped with the skills, knowledge, and habits to realize their God-given potential, through engagement, discernment, growth, and excellence in all they do.

 

The approach encourages students to take ownership of their work while digging deeper into their interests.  As students progress, educators learn about each student’s academic strengths and challenges. Program studies have shown that many students who have historically struggled are able to access the curriculum in new ways, while students who excel are finding opportunities to accelerate their progress even further.

Personalized Learning
Introduction:

Personalized Learning
Reflections:

Bridging the educational divide during a pandemic:

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Personalized Learning Testimonials
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Here's what students, teachers and famililes have said...

"Personalized learning really meets the student where they are at and challenges them at the level that's appropriate."

"The teachers, mentors, and staff have helped my son in countless ways, from taking the time outside of the regular class time to work with him on certain areas that he might be struggling with and goal-setting with his mentor. Mr. Pfiffner is Eli's mentor and just meeting with him regularly has been awesome for him. It's huge to have someone on his side that's interested and has been pushing him to get better. "It's been really great to see him work at school a bit more and to get organized and just grow in his pursuits to learn. Personalized learning really meets the student where they are at and challenges them at the level that's appropriate. My son is never bored; he always has something to be working on and to be curious about. "The size of our Mazzuchelli is great in that it's small enough that everyone gets to know everyone and everybody matters here. It's large enough that everyone has opportunities to push their limits. There's peace of mind of knowing my son is safe, he's learning, he's growing, and that he matters here."

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Dan

Parent

"The cake was for my rock layer model, which we did in my fourth-grade science class with Ms. Davis when we were learning about different types of rocks, like sediment, metamorphic, and igneous rock..."

"The cake was for my rock layer model, which we did in my fourth-grade science class with Ms. Davis when we were learning about different types of rocks, like sediment, metamorphic, and igneous rock. "My plan was to make a three-layer cake, so we bought two batters and homemade some rice krispy for the bottom layer. The rice krispy layer represented limestone. The middle cake represented shale, and because shale is grey we found some black food coloring. For the top, I represented sandstone using red velvet cake. We stirred the batter in swirls because in the desert there are these beautiful rocks in them. "Our whole class ate the cake, and it was really good. My favorite part of making the cake was when my grandma and I were making the red velvet layer and the batter got everywhere. I had to wash my shirt because the red batter stained everything, and it was fun to joke about it. "We did this project through personalized learning, and it's different from any other school I went to. I moved here from Tennessee. My favorite part of personalized learning is that we can learn things for ourselves. We don't have to learn only from the teacher; we can learn whatever we want at any time. I like project-based learning more because it's more fun, and my entire class enjoyed it. I'm planning to do more projects in the future!"

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Buddy

Resurrection student

"It helps you learn things and comprehend knowledge fully before you move on, getting the most out of your education. It has changed my learning experience a lot."

“Personalized Learning is a program for everyone who wants to learn at their own pace and satisfy their learning needs. It helps you learn things and comprehend knowledge fully before you move on, getting the most out of your education. It has changed my learning experience a lot, and it is different from the way I used to learn back in middle school, but for the better! "In our most recent project for Biology, we did a project called Bioremediation where we studied a plant and how well it could bioremediate toxins and clean up the environment. We wrote a lab report for our final product. “My teachers give me a lot of individual attention in personalized learning, and they care a lot about my personal academic success. As my mentor, Ms. Trees has given me a lot of help and attention and push me every single day. Ms. Trees has made a huge impact on me; our mentoring sessions have helped me succeed so much and get my head right about what I need to and want to accomplish each week.”

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Will

Class of 2023

"Personalized learning at Mazzuchelli has been transformative for our seventh-grader. She has become self-directed and collaborative with peers in formats that encourage creativity as well as independence."

"Since starting our oldest child at Holy Family in 2012, we have been grateful for the caring and nurturing environment created by educators engaged with our children. This has never been more evident than it has been this last month. “Personalized learning at Mazzuchelli has been transformative for our seventh-grader. She has become self-directed and collaborative with peers in formats that encourage creativity as well as independence. “It is as if this program has trained her for such a time as this. She is aware of how to request support from her faculty, but also seek out answers on her own with resources that she has learned to be useful for her. There is daily interaction online with staff and class mates. She has had one-on-one meetings with teachers when something isn’t making sense via Zoom. Her teachers are always willing to find time for her."

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Katy Wethal

Parent

"Now, when I don't get the top score right away, I don't feel defeated. I just try harder."

"Before I came into the program, I had never failed before. I always got the top grade in everything. I almost couldn't believe it when I didn't get the top grade. I got nervous and wondered if this program was for me. Then, after trying several times, I realized that this would take more effort. Now, when I don't get the top score right away, I don't feel defeated. I just try harder."

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Tess

Class of 2022

"I am so impressed with my fifth grader's ability to take detailed notes at such a young age! It’s been so rewarding watching this skill evolve from the beginning of the year..."

"The personalized learning program has been a positive experience for us. I am so impressed with my fifth grader's ability to take detailed notes at such a young age! It’s been so rewarding watching this skill evolve from the beginning of the year. I feel his progress is tangible and accessible to us as parents. Chase takes pride and accountability that he’s not behind and is succeeding by utilizing the progress reporting section. The summit program has allowed him to gain confidence and take ownership of his own learning, which was not the case previously in the more traditional model. I like being able to go on the Summit program to monitor his achievements instead of having to wait for conferences to find out how he is doing. Change is never easy for kids or parents. I feel what my fifth grader is doing with the personalized learning program is setting him up for great success in high school and college."

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Anna

Parent

"I appreciated the ownership that students showed over their learning..."

“I really enjoyed my visit to Holy Family, and in particular, appreciated the ownership that students showed over their learning. They were able to articulate what they were doing; why they were doing it; areas that they felt were their strengths and areas they thought they had an opportunity to grow and improve. Their ability to share specific examples across both their approach – the habits they took in their work – and specific content was really impressive.”

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Dr. Ryan Wise

Former Director of the Iowa Department of Education

“Personalized learning allows you to learn at your pace and in the way that’s best for you..."

“Personalized learning allows you to learn at your pace and in the way that’s best for you. It’s really for anybody. Sometimes, I struggle in school, and personalized learning is awesome for me. Last year, if I didn’t understand a math concept, it might be, ‘we’re moving on. I can help you after class.’ Now, if I don’t understand something I get help from my teacher and extra time in class until I do understand it. Also, if I do understand something right away, I can possibly move on a lot faster instead of waiting for everyone else to understand.”

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Ellie

Class of 2022

Four Pillars for Success

Personalized learning at Holy Family is built on four pillars that together support the growth and well-rounded development of the whole child – Cognitive Skills, Content Knowledge, Habits of Success and Sense of Purpose (also referred to as "Faith in Action").

Click to Expand:

The Unique Elements of Personalized Learning

  • Project-based, authentic learning
  • A core focus on real-world skills and habits for success
  • Student-driven learning supporting a sense of ownership of individual success
  • Mastery/competency-based progression/pace
  • Community partnerships that foster students' sense of purpose
  • One-on-one mentoring
  • Regular practice in SMART goal setting

 

Through our personalized learning, students become aware of what they are learning, why they are learning it and how they learn best. They become self-directed learners and develop behaviors and mindsets necessary for success.

 

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The Teacher's Role:
Teachers have the necessary tools to identify their students' unique needs and customize instruction to meet students where they are.  Daily classroom interaction may involve full-class lessons, small-group workshops or one-on-one instruction and support, depending on the needs of the students that day.  By keenly understanding their students' needs, teachers can build stronger relationships and support their growth better than ever before.  As one Wahlert Catholic High School teacher said, "I have been teaching  for 30 plus years and I have never known students this well!"

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The Student's Role:
Students are empowered to become self-directed learners. With the support of teachers and personal mentors, they set goals for their learning, reflect on their progress and build habits and mindsets to help them succeed in college, career and life.

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The Mentor's Role
One-on-one mentorship fosters a sense of connectedness and trust among our students and the adults at their school. Every student is paired with a mentor who will act as their advocate both inside and outside of the classroom through the duration of their years at each school. Mentors can be teachers, counselors, or principals who meet one-on-one with their student mentees for at least ten minutes each week, throughout the school year. With the consistent support of a trusted adult, students are empowered to set and achieve both short- and long-term academic and personal goals. Mentors also serve as a guide and partner for parents at their child's school.

Personalized Learning Q & A

As with anything new, there are always questions, and we want to help answer yours!  Here are a few to start with. If you have other questions, please submit the form below. Thank you!

Still have questions about Personalized Learning?

Submit your question here and we'll be in touch! If we feel your question is one others might also have, we'll post it here on the website.

Personalized Learning FAQs

"Prepared" by Summit Learning Founder Tops Bill Gates Year-End Booklist

"I expect many readers of Diane’s book will wonder how their kids can have the same extraordinary learning experiences as Summit students.” –Bill Gates

Prepared by Summit Learning founder Diane Tavenner made it on Bill Gates' 2019 end-of-year booklist top picks. We're excited for more people to learn about the remarkable model that drew us to a partnership with Summit Learning.

Read Bill Gates' Review of Prepared

 

Additional Information & Resources

Summit Learning Resources:

The Institute for Personalized Learning:

Third-party articles and resources:

  • Chalkbeat.com Lisa Epstein, principal of Richard H. Lee Elementary in Chicago describes why she supports personalized learning (pdf)
  • Edutopia.org 3 Myths of Personalized Learning (pdf)