Our Program Is a Proud Member of The Newman Guide!
The Cardinal Newman Society recommends Catholic programs that are committed to providing parents, as the primary educators of their children, materials faithful to the teaching Magisterium and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Society reviews programs for their adherence to curricular principles as derived from Church councils, popes, Vatican congregations, bishop conferences, and other Church documents used as the underpinning framework for the Principles of Catholic Identity in Education and the Catholic Curriculum Standards.
As a Newman Guide Recommended Program, we affirm:
- We are partners with parents who are the primary educators of their children.
- Our Catholic identity is especially important to us, and all our materials fully and faithfully represent Church teaching. Our materials are in complete fidelity to the magisterium of the Catholic Church, including the Code of Canon Law, Catechism of the Catholic Church, and other magisterial teachings.
- Our organization does not partner with or support groups or movements at odds or partially at odds with Catholic teaching either directly (e.g., material or speakers supporting non-Catholic positions, LGBTQ+ focused clubs) or indirectly (e.g., through the display of flags or symbols supporting Marxist, or other anti-Catholic worldviews).
- Students are encouraged toward frequent reception of the Eucharist, Sacrament of Reconciliation, daily prayer, the Rosary, and Eucharistic adoration.
- We choose Catholic materials that impart a “Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture, and of history” and order “the whole of human culture to the news of salvation.”
As a Newman Guide Recommended Program, we affirm the following five Principles of Catholic Identity in Education:
- The provider’s program and materials further Catholic education’s response to Christ’s great commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20). Christ is the cornerstone and is evident throughout the materials and program.
- The provider’s program and materials promote communion with the local and universal Church through faithfulness and fidelity to the Magisterium. The program teaches communion between the family and school, forming students for relationships and a seamless harmony between faith and life.
- The provider’s program and materials promote Sacred Scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition.
- The program attends to the integral formation of the student through its course offerings and its understanding of learning modalities. The program respects the dignity of the person in the materials it offers and in daily interactions with others. The program encourages a service mentality and emphasizes conscience formation to teach students how to live a life of virtue and holiness.
- The program and materials provide a Catholic worldview and framework that unites faith and reason to more fully apprehend and understand the fullness of reality as created by God. The program and materials are designed to provide for the illumination of knowledge by faith, and present a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture, and of history.
For more information and resources related to the Principles of Catholic Identity in Education, click here.
As a Newman Guide Recommended Program, we affirm our program incorporates the following Catholic curricular components:
- address the integral formation of the whole person, body, mind, and spirit in light of his or her ultimate end and the good of society.
- present all branches of knowledge as being connected, complementing each other, and ultimately connected to God, the source of them all.
- assist the student in knowing and understanding objective reality, including transcendent Truth, which is knowable by reason and faith and finds its origin, unity, and end in God.
- illuminate with the light of faith everything the students learn about the world, life, and the human person.
- promote human virtues and the dignity of the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God and modeled on the person of Jesus Christ.
- encourage a synthesis of faith, life, and culture.
- develop a Catholic worldview and enables a deeper incorporation of the student into the heart of the Catholic Church.
For more information and resources related to the Catholic Curriculum Standards, click here.
As a Newman Guide Recommended Program, we affirm the use of the following Policy Standards:
Commitment to Literature and Arts Standards
The Cardinal Newman Society prioritizes the use of outstanding literature and the arts. At the grade school level, literature and readings are not just from a secular boxed or computer-based program but curated to promote a healthy imagination and Catholic worldview. At the high school level, students encounter more complex topics, but typically in timeless literature and always with the aid of a curriculum supplements that provide a Catholic perspective.
In adhering to the Policy Standards on Literature and the Arts in Catholic Education, Newman Guide Programs ensure that:
- literature and the arts are selected to make known the proper nature of humanity and help students perfect themselves and the world in accord with Catholic virtues and values;
- literature and the arts are carefully selected to systematically transmit culture and uncover authentic reality through the light of the Catholic faith and a Catholic worldview;
- literature is screened for anti-Catholic presentations of the human person, especially works that promote sexual exploration, homosexuality, gender ideology, critical race theory, relativism, cynicism, despair, the occult, disdain for one’s parents, etc.
- literature and the arts do not lead students to sin, despair, or confusion about basic human goods or the Catholic faith and contain no shocking or significant profanity, descriptions of sexual activity or sexual fantasy, blasphemy, or other content which might diminish the student’s faith, purity, or innocence, with appropriate attention to the age of students and their preparation for complex or false material;
- literature and art selections assist in the development and fulfillment of students’ aesthetic capabilities as people who “share” in God’s creative work;
- literature and art selections enable students to move from the world of senses to the world of the Spirit: to that of the transcendent and invisible God.
For more information and resources related to the Policy Standards on Literature and Arts in Catholic Education, click here.
Commitment to Secular Materials Standards
Newman Guide Programs advocate:
- the use of Catholic materials over secular options, whenever possible, with consideration to the unique and more expansive mission and objectives of Catholic education;
- fidelity to a Catholic worldview and that the Catholic faith is maintained in all lessons, activities, and programs, whatever their source;
- not using secular materials or programs that might cause scandal, conflict with Catholic teaching, or cause confusion about the truth of Catholic teaching or that might mislead students to adopt secular assumptions about atheism, agnosticism, relativism, materialism, or a false ideology about the human person;
- materials and programs that help students develop their intellectual, moral, emotional, physical, and spiritual talents harmoniously without contradiction to Catholic teaching and Christian anthropology;
- adapting or richly augmenting secular materials as necessary with resources to integrate Catholic teaching and practice and transmit a Catholic understanding of the human person and the world; and
- that through the endorsement of secular materials, they do not appear to collaborate or join cause with organizations directly in conflict with the Church so as to avoid scandal or call into question their faithful commitment to the mission of Catholic education.
For more information and resources related to the Policy Standards on Secular Academic Materials and Programs in Catholic Education, click here.
Commitment to Human Sexuality Program Standards
Newman Guide Programs recognize parents as primary educators in all things, and most especially in topics of human sexuality, and ensure that:
- materials are grounded in a clear and convincing Christian anthropology that respects man’s God-given nature as a body/soul unity that cannot be manipulated at will;
- materials fully reflect, without ambiguity or reservation, the moral precepts of the Church regarding human sexuality, especially as presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church;
- materials address and negate (at an appropriate age and in the appropriate context) practices and behaviors contrary to Catholic morality, including sexual activity outside of marriage (and same-sex activity), contraception, abortion, transgender ideology, masturbation, and pornography;
- materials present the sacramentality of marriage as between a man and a woman and ordained by God;
- materials promote a Catholic worldview of the beauty and dignity of the marital act and its use only within the confines of marriage for the procreation of children and the bonding of the spouses;
- carefully screened secular materials if used are fully supplemented with Catholic moral principles and a rich Christian anthropology, and they teach the saving power of Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit;
- chastity is specifically and clearly promoted, as well as self-control, modesty, temperance, fortitude, and respect for self and others;
- information is presented at an age-appropriate developmental level, carefully protecting a child’s natural latency period and prudently introducing relevant material during adolescence to guide a child through development and change;
- sexually explicit materials, images, or language and anything that might create emotional disorientation in students or unhealthy curiosity leading to sin are excluded;
For more information and resources related to the Policy Standards on Sexuality Programs in Catholic Education, click here (coming soon).
Commitment to Human Sexuality Standards
Newman Guide Programs interface with employees and others according to their biological sex. They hold that sexual intimacy is only appropriate between one man and one woman in the context of marriage and directed toward the twin ends of love and life. They promote chastity and modesty according to one’s vocation in life. Employee promotion or public expression of unrepented sexual activity or same-sex attraction is prohibited.
In implementing the Policy Standards on Human Sexuality in Catholic Education, Newman Guide Programs ensure that:
- clear Catholic teaching on human sexuality is upheld in employee policies and program material, according to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and especially as articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church;
- employees are addressed by their biological sex in nomenclature and expected to dress according to their biological sex;
- sexual harassment is prohibited, and the dignity of all is respected;
- there is no advocacy or celebration of immoral behavior or ideologies which distort the Catholic understanding of the human person or human sexuality and gender, including the presence of ally or advocacy groups or the display of symbols, such as LGBTQI+ flags, stickers, pins, or other materials.
For more information and resources related to the Policy Standards on Human Sexuality in Catholic Education, click here.
Commitment to Employee Morality Standards
Newman Guide Programs hold all employees to the highest standards of moral and personal witness to the Catholic faith in and out of the workplace.
In implementing the Policy Standards on Faith and Moral Expectations for Employees in Catholic Education, Newman Guide Programs ensure that:
- all employees recognize and respect the institution’s distinct Catholic identity and mission;
- employment documents, evaluations, and training establish clear and detailed moral expectations consistent with Church teaching, with special attention to legal and moral flashpoints in the culture; and
- all employees are required to avoid instances of public scandal or engaging in any conduct, lifestyle (e.g., cohabitation, same-sex relationship, adultery, illegal drug use) or public commentary (e.g., promotion of abortion, same-sex marriage, violence, anti-Catholic sentiment) opposed to Catholic moral teaching.
- the Catholic faith informs daily operations, instructional practices, programs, long-term planning, and personnel decision;
- fulfilling the Catholic mission requires all employees to maintain and protect that religious purpose and mission, and the consequences for teaching or behavior in opposition of Church teaching;
- categorization of employees and detail describing any religious duties and commitments are explained in each category;
- reference to whom in the organization makes decisions regarding religious (moral) matters for employees is provided;
- A residual clause for all beliefs taught by the Church but which are not articulated.
For more information and resources related to the Policy Standards on Faith and Moral Expectations for Employees in Catholic Education, click here (coming soon).
Commitment to Mission, Philosophy, and Faith Standards
Newman Guide Programs review their Mission, Vision, and Faith Statements to ensure:
- they include aspects that set them apart from secular and non-Catholic organizations such as being Christ-centered, evangelization, service, integral formation, in union with parents, and serving as a resource for authentic Church teaching.
- the organization’s mission the religious formation and education of Catholic students.
- the sources of the Catholic faith embraced by the organization, including Sacred Scripture and teachings of the Magisterium, specifically Canon Law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church;
For more information and resources related to the Policy Standards on Mission, Philosophy, and Faith Statements click here.
