Faith and Service
Patron Saint
John Neumann was born in what is now the Czech Republic. After studying in Prague, he came to New York at the age of 25 in 1836, and was ordained a priest. He did missionary work in New York until he was 29, when he joined the Redemptorists and became its first member to profess vows in the United States. He became the fourth bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. He continued missionary work in Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. At 41, as bishop of Philadelphia, he organized the parochial school system into a diocesan one, increasing the number of pupils almost twentyfold within a short time.
Gifted with outstanding organizing ability, he drew into the city many teaching communities of sisters and the Christian Brothers. During his brief assignment as vice provincial for the Redemptorists, he placed them in the forefront of the parochial movement.
Well-known for his holiness and learning, spiritual writing and preaching, on October 13, 1963, John Neumann became the first American bishop to be beatified. Canonized in 1977, he is buried in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Philadelphia. As of 2021, he is the only male US citizen to be named a saint.
We Believe
We believe that the Catholic School is the cornerstone of the Church’s educational mission. Traditionally, it has blended academic excellence with the development of Catholic morals and spiritual values. Likewise, St. John Neumann Catholic School strives to educate the total child through instruction in religious truth and values, the building and experiencing community, and serving others.
We believe in the integration of religious truths and values with the rest of learning and living in order to achieve academic excellence. These truths are taught and reinforced by prayer, liturgy, Catholic values, and formal religious studies. This is achieved in an atmosphere of cooperation between the staff, students, and parents.
Stemming from this cooperation, church, civic, and worldwide community will be fostered. It will start with the precious roots of home, be nourished in school, and continue to branch out to form a larger community. The spirit of concern, sharing, and belonging will be its hallmark.
The integration of religious values and community naturally leads to service to others. SJNCS will serve by inspiring Catholic commitment and emphasizing social justice. Our vision is to prepare academically excellent Catholic children who will positively serve society.
Service Program
The SJN service program supports our parish stewardship efforts by encouraging students to take an active role in our parish community. Through their participation in service activities, students are reaching out to assist members of our community, in particular our sister parish, Sacred Heart, in Homestead, Florida.
All service initiatives are incorporated into activities focusing on the different needs of the parish and community. The service program is not meant to raise funds, but rather to promote student’s awareness and involvement and allow each child to understand that they are making a difference in someone else’s life by actively helping their neighbor.
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Sacraments
The goal of our Religion program is for our students to know Jesus and understand the importance of having Him as the center of their lives. Students are taught how to live out their faith using Scripture, Catholic doctrine and tradition, and the Church’s social teachings. They are guided into a personal relationship with Christ through prayer. At SJNCS we partner with our parents to help foster, in our children, this personal relationship with Christ. It is through this partnership that we encourage our students to:
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Model the Gospel values, express their Faith, and instill a sense of community and service to others.
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Participate in the preparation and celebration of the Sacraments, the Liturgy, and rituals in order to grasp the full meaning of their Faith.
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Develop their unique gifts and abilities as they mature in their Faith.
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Actively live out their Faith in the world.
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Have an understanding of the Catholic Church’s past, present, and future.
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See themselves as part of the Catholic community and come to know Jesus historically and in their Faith. Ultimately it is our goal to help them discover that their love for God is demonstrated in their acts of kindness and service to others.
Theology of the Body
At SJNCS we incorporate the Theology of the Body into our curriculum in order to help our Catholic school parents and teachers address the issues we face today in a way that is age-appropriate and faithful to the truth and charity of Christ. Above all, this curriculum is meant to bring the light of the Gospel, so powerfully proclaimed by John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, to our students. The “Theology of the Body” is St. John Paul II's integrated vision of the human person. The human body has a specific meaning, making visible an invisible reality, and is capable of revealing answers regarding fundamental questions about us and our lives. His reflections are based on Scripture and contain a vision of the human person truly worthy of man. Emphasizing the theme of love as self-gift, they counteract societal trends. The body shows us the call and gives us the means to love in the image of God.
John Paul II encourages a true reverence for the gift of our sexuality and challenges us to live it in a way worthy of our great dignity as human persons. His theology is for all ages and vocations, since it sums up the true meaning of being a person.