SHAWE ACADEMICS

Shawe Memorial strives to create an atmosphere conducive to high academic achievement and personal growth. This atmosphere provides an opportunity for students to meet their individual potential and to develop healthy relationships and appropriate behaviors that ensure academic success.

Shawe Memorial Junior/Senior High School assists parents in the education of their children by providing a dynamic Catholic education which promotes individual growth in virtue through the development of God-given talents. Each student is expected to make the most of his or her God-given talents and abilities. Students are to set high, but realistic goals for themselves, create a plan to achieve those goals, and to consistently work towards the meeting of their own academic goals.

Theology Program Of Studies

The primary goal of Shawe Memorial Jr/Sr High School is to enable our students to integrate their faith into their daily lives. As a Catholic school, we offer a variety of experiences to nurture our students’ relationship with God and to strengthen their relationship with the Church. For students of other faiths, our spiritual formation program introduces them to the tenets of the Catholic Church and provides them opportunities to enrich their own Christian heritage.

  • Theology Program of Studies
  • Spiritual Life

Junior High: Introduction to Catholicism

Shaw Junior High religious studies explore the basic tenets of the faith in a course titled Introduction to Catholicism. The curriculum explains what it means to be Catholic. The following topics are covered over two years:

  • Church
  • Prayer
  • Holiness
  • The Trinity
  • The Blessed Virgin Mary
  • Sacred Scripture / The Old and New Testaments
  • The Ten Commandments – A study of each
  • The Sacraments – A study of each
  • The Moral Virtues
  • The Beatitudes

Grade 9: Understanding the Scriptures

The first high school level course is a study of the Holy Scripture in a course titled Understanding the Scriptures. Our textbook, authored by Scott Hahn, is a high school bible study course. This course presents a Catholic approach to Scripture with emphasis on the theme of covenant. Students will study salvation history and come to understand the importance of various parts of Sacred Scripture critical to the Catholic faith. The following topics are included in this course:

What is the Bible and how we should read it

  • The Old Testament
  • Creation of the World and The Early World
  • Abraham, Our Father
  • The Patriarchs
  • The Exodus and The Law
  • The Rise of the Kingdom and The Kingdom of David
  • Wise King Solomon
  • The Divided Kingdom and Conquest/Exile and Return
  • Revolt of the Maccabees
  • The New Testament
  • The Incarnation
  • What Jesus Did and What Jesus Taught
  • The Cup of Consummation and The Resurrection
  • Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament
  • The Birth of the Church / The Catholic Church in Scripture
  • St. Paul
  • The End of History

Grade 10 & Grade 11: The History of the Church I & II

The comprehensive history of the Catholic Church is studied over two years in the courses History of the Church I and History of the Church II. The curriculum covers every major event in the Church’s history through present day. The text places the Church in its context throughout history and explains the role that the Church and its leaders have played in the shaping of history for better or worse. The following topics are covered over two years:

  • The Roman World, Jesus Christ and the founding of the Church
  • Early Christians, Persecutions, Church Fathers and Heresies
  • Light in the Dark Ages
  • The Great Schism, Collapse, Corruption and Reform in Europe and the Church
  • The Crusades and the Inquisition, the High Middle Ages, and the Renaissance
  • The Reformation: Protestant and Catholic
  • Wars of Religion, Exploration and Missionary Movements
  • The Age of Enlightenment, The French Revolution, and Napoleon
  • The Nineteenth Century: The Church gives witness in wars and revolutions
  • Vatican II and the Church in the Modern World
  • The Church in the United States

Grade 12: Our Moral Life in Christ and Theology of the Body

The culmination of religious study at Shawe Memorial is divided into distinct semester courses. The first semester of the senior year focuses on how God calls each student. Topics range from the existence of God, reasons for unbelief, how we listen to God, the Mystery of the Trinity, Creation and Evolution, the Fall of Man, God’s governance and providence, and finally the ultimate goal of life.

The second semester is a study of Pope John Paul’s Theology of the Body. The goal is to lead students to a discovery of God’s plan for love and marriage. A practical application is also explored by using the text, Good News About Sex and Marriage by Peter West.

Diploma Requirements

Students may earn the Indiana Core 40 Diploma or Indiana Core 40 with Academic Honors Diploma. In addition to the course and credit requirements outlined by the Indiana Department of Education, students must take a religion course every semester enrolled at Shawe. Therefore students who attend Shawe for all four years of high school must earn a total of 8 credits in religion.

For the Core 40 with Academic Honors diploma, students must:

  • Complete all requirements for Core 40.
  • Earn 2 additional Core 40 math credits.
  • Earn 6-8 Core 40 world language credits (6 credits in one language or 4 credits each in two languages).
  • Earn 2 Core 40 fine arts credits.
  • Earn a grade of a “C” or better in courses that will count toward the diploma.
  • Have a grade point average of a “B” or better.
  • Complete one of the following:
    • Earn 4 credits in 2 or more AP courses and take corresponding AP exams
    • Earn 6 verifiable transcripted college credits in dual credit courses from the approved dual credit list.
    • Earn a combined score of 1750 or higher on the SAT critical reading, mathematics and writing sections and a minimum score of 530 on each
    • Earn an ACT composite score of 26 or higher and complete written section
    • Earn 4 credits in IB courses and take corresponding IB exams.
    • Earn two of the following:
      • A minimum of 3 verifiable transcripted college credits from the approved dual credit list,
      • 2 credits in AP courses and corresponding AP exams
      • 2 credits in IB standard level courses and corresponding IB exams.

Jr High Course Offerings

High School Course Offerings