Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely not! IC School is open to children of any faith! All students take part in daily religion classes and weekly Masses. Students who are not Catholic do not receive sacraments, but can still participate in many ways at Mass and in prayer activities. Teachers are sensitive to showing respect to every family's faith traditions. Baptism is also not a requirement for attending school. However, Catholic families who want their children to receive their sacraments should tend to Baptism prior to students entering 2nd grade.

Costs for Preschool are $700 for Preschool 1 and $1300 for Preschool 2 for the year.  There is no financial aid for preschool, but parents can set up payments according to their convenience.

Costs for K-6 tuition is $5,000. Active members in the Northwest 2 Family of Parishes may apply for and receive a scholarship of $625.00, as long as they are not receiving scholarships that fully cover their tuition.

IC School is a provider for the Ed Choice Expansion and Jon Peterson Scholarships through the Ohio Department of Education. Ed Choice Expansion is an income-based scholarship available to families who are at 250% of the federal poverty level and provides 100% tuition. Jon Peterson Scholarships are available to students with learning disabilities or other health impairments who qualify to be on an IEP. This scholarship provides for tuition plus intervention services.

Families who do not qualify for the Ed Choice Scholarship program can apply for financial aid through FACTS (see Enrollment page for details). This application also automatically goes to the Archdiocese for possible grants from the Catholic Education Foundation. More details about how financial aid works can be found on the "Tuition and Financial Aid page. 

We are committed to making IC School an affordable choice for families who want a faith-based education.

Class sizes currently range from 12 - 20. Most classes average around 16. Our students definitely have an advantage in getting individual attention when it is needed.

The Archdiocese currently requires us to administer the Iowa Tests of Basic SKills and Cognitive Abilities test to grades 2-6 in the spring. Grades 5 and 6 take this test in an online format. Grades 2-4 use paper and pencil. We use the results from this test to help us evaluate our programs and to get a pictures of individual learners' strengths and weaknesses. Parents will receive a score report of how their students performed on the test.

We have also been piloting the ARK test, a standardized test of religion knowledge. 

All of our students K-6 participate in the STAR testing program at least 3 times a year to help measure their progress and growth in math and reading. Parents are sent home reports of these tests as well.

Students who receive state scholarships must meet certain assessment requirements as a condition of their scholarship. Among these is passing the 3rd grade reading guarantee and taking a qualified test in math and reading/ELA in grades 3-6, as well as a qualified science test in grade 5. The Iowa Tests meet this requirement in  math and reading/ELA. Third graders have multiple opportunities to "pass" the 3rd grade reading guarantee with various tests. Fifth graders have to take the state test for science, which is an online test.

We do not have a formal "gifted" program. However, students in grades 3 and 4 may participate in "Beyond the Books," which allows them to develop an independent topic of their choosing and prepare a presentation for their class. 5th and 6th grade students have an opportunity to participate in "Lunch Clubs," which provide enrichment opportunities to explore various career options, hobbies, and other life skills. Lunch clubs have included cooking, woodworking, science/STEM, book clubs, art, physical activities, etc.
We work hard to support our students who have learning challenges. We provide Title Reading which provides extra reading support for students. We provide a tutor who can work with students when they need catching up or extra help with specific concepts.  We have a speech and language pathologist who provides assistance with articulation and lanaguage, and we have an intervention specialist who works with students who have an identified learning disability.  

All of our students get the opportunity to perform in an annual Christmas program, and some grades also perform in a spring music program. Our students all have an opportunity to perform in the 5th and 6th grade musical.  Band is also an option for 5th and 6th grades. Our students get to participate in family groups with students from each grade. Our 6th graders act as the leaders of the families, planning and carrying out activities with the other students. Students attend Mass once per week and fill the roles of readers, greeter, song leaders, and servers. Our students in K-6 all receive regular instruction in music, physical education, and technology. They also have one period of library, one period of technology, and one period of enrichment each week.

In addition, our students have many field trip opportunities and get to participate in many varied activities.

Our courses of study are written by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and are aligned with state standards, but our faculty determines the materials we use to teach those standards. We find that our students are well-prepared for middle  school and beyond with the curriculum we teach.
We have worked hard to stay fairly up-to-date in technology. Currently, we are 1 to 1  with chromebooks for our K-6 students, allowing students to use technology in some way almost every day. We also have a computer lab and provide technology classes once per week for all students K-6. All K-6 classrooms are equipped with interactive boards and document cameras.

We generally hear that our studentsare well-prepared for middle school and beyond.  We see many students' names on honor rolls and in awards.

We have kept track of our students who graduate from Celina High School and find that, in most years, 60-70% of our former students graduate with honors and receive college scholarships, compared to 30-40% of their classmates. We often have former students in the upper ranks of the graduating class, wherever they choose to continue their education.

However, we do NOT qualify our students before they come here. Some of our students never go on to make the honor roll, but many of them still perform better because of a work ethic that was developed here (this is based on what parents and teachers have shared, not on any actual statistics.)