Precious Blood School General Information

Precious Blood School voluntarily participates in the accreditation program of the State of Indiana Department of Education. The present accreditation status is valid until the Fall of 2006. Precious Blood School is also a member of the National Catholic Education Association and Indiana Non-Public Education Association.

Precious Blood School follows the curriculum guidelines established by the Indiana Department of Education through the utilization of the STATE PROFICIENCY STANDARDS for each of the subject matter areas: language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, health, music, and visual arts.

A literacy program is complemented by weekly visits to the school library. A progressive computer literacy program with "hands on" instruction is presented to all grades through the utilization of an up-to-date computer lab and computers located in classrooms.

The strong curriculum is reflected by the consistent high ranking in the ISTEP (Indiana Testing for Educational Progress) for Grade 3 and the CTBS/5 (California Test of Basic Skills) in Grades 1,2,4 and 5.

Precious Blood School follows the guidelines prescribed by the Diocese of Evansville for religious education.

At present Precious Blood School has a total school enrollment of 276 students.

Current Class sizes
Preschool	66 students
Kindergarten	33 students
Grade 1	39 students
Grade 2	31 students
Grade 3	38 students
Grade 4	32 students
Grade 5	37 students

In an effort to provide individualized instruction for the students, all grades at PBS are split into two classes with a maximum of 22 students per class and a minimum of 14 students per class.

Preschool classes are limited to no more than 20 students in a four-year-old class and 15 students in a three-year-old class.

Precious Blood School does not discrimate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in administration of educational policies.

Parents may receive information on registration and enrollment by contacting the school office.

Precious Blood School and Church are located at the intersection of Highway 56 and Lechner Lane at the west side of Jasper. The original building was constructed in the mid-1950's and opened in October of 1957. A $4,000,000 building project was completed in March of 1998 which added six new classrooms, a new library, and a new Church. The building project allowed for the expansion of the computer lab and the conversion of the previous Church to a cafetorium. ; A part of the building project was the renovation of the existing classrooms.

A Precious Blood School Parent - Student Handbook is available to all parents and other interested persons. The Handbook contains information concerning all aspects of school operations. A copy of the PARENT - STUDENT HANDBOOK may be requested by calling the school office at (812) 482-4461.

    Religious Education, as stated in the Philosophy, is a joint effort on the part of parents and teachers to enter into the mission of the Church in fulfilling the last recorded words of Jesus before His Ascension, "Go teach all..." The religion instruction program at Precious Blood is based on the following documents:
     • HOLY SCRIPTURE
     • To Teach As Jesus Did (United States Catholic Conference, 1976)
     • The Catholic School (United States Catholic Conference, 1977)

The religion textbook series used schoolwide is the THIS IS OUR FAITH series published by the Silver Burdett-Ginn Company.

The Benziger Family Life program is introduced to students in Grade 5. This program provides the students a wholistic approach for their growth and development. The themes deal with the moral, emotional, spiritual and the physical aspects of growing up.

Instruction includes theology, scripture, morality, church teachings, and Liturgy and are given the opportunity to prepare, plan and help direct.

Students also participate as servers, lectors, song leaders, musical accompanists and sacristans.

Board of Education - This is an appointed board which is responsible for the policy of all educational programs within the school and parish.

IPT ( Interested Parents and Teachers) - This active parent-teacher organization is involved in fund raising and informational programs. All parents are encouraged to participate.

School Volunteers - Parents, parishioners, and community members are invited to be school volunteers.

Precious Blood School is equipped with a state of the art computer lab which contains 28 workstations and three printers. Additional equipment available to students are two digital cameras, a scanner and an LCD projector. Various software packages have been installed on the workstations to enhance the curriculum, such as Jumpstart, MathBlaster, Type to Learn, USA Explorer, Clock Shop, Coin Critters and Encarta Encylopedia and Interactive Atlas, just to name a few. We also utilize two assessment packages, Star Literacy and NorthWest Educational Assessment. The students benefit from a newly developed Technology curriculum, utilizing the various software packages, as well as Microsoft Office XP Professional. The music program also utilizes the Music Ace 1 and 2 software package.

Every classroom has been equipped with a new computer, and is connected to the network within the building. Teachers utilize an internal email system, and the school is equipped with a high speed ADSL connection to the Internet to broaden the spectrum of learning.

Precious Blood School students have the opportunity to be transported by the buses of Greater Jasper Consolidated Schools. Information about bus routes can be obtained by calling the Greater Jasper Consolidated School Office at (812) 482-1801.