Academic Excellence

GRACE offers high-caliber academics in a supportive and challenging environment. Our individualized education provides the ideal environment for achievement of significant academic progress.

GRACE students achieve academic excellence as demonstrated in their daily learning experiences and measured through standardized testing.

In the Green Bay Diocese, all schools utilize the STAR Assessment by Renaissance to monitor student progress and academic achievement. The STAR Assessment gives organizations control over the testing content including the subject matter used in the test questions to ensure that the assessment aligns with Catholic values and expectations. You can read more about this topic by reading this letter from the Renaissance team. STAR is a national assessment tool that makes predictions about students’ growth from year to year in addition to providing key data points to closely monitor a students’ progress in the areas of reading and mathematics.

STAR tests present students with engaging, age-appropriate content. As a student responds to questions, the test responds to the student, adjusting up or down in difficulty. As a result of this test from Renaissance, educators can make informed decisions to promote your child’s academic growth.

STAR testing occurs three times each year (fall, winter and spring). The fall results help determine strengths and weaknesses and curricular areas in need of focus. Winter testing provides a “checkpoint” for the students tested to determine if any mid-term adjustments are required. Spring testing provides a measure of student progress over the course of the year.

• Kindergarten and first-grade students take a reading (or early literacy) and math computer-based test with audio. Estimated total test time: 40 minutes.
• Second- and third-grade students take a reading and math computer-based test. Estimated total test time: 40 minutes.
• Fourth- through eighth-grade students take a reading and math computer-based test. Estimated total test time: 40 minutes.

Twice a year (fall and spring), GRACE families receive their student’s individual STAR Family Report accompanied by an explanatory summary letter.

Since STAR assessments are designed to measure individual student’s academic performance, each test is unique and the questions are based on the student responses and current achievement level. The computer adjusts the difficulty level of the questions as the test progresses. Because each test is unique, teachers are better able to assess student progress over the course of the year and determine where students may need additional instruction.