Pope John XXIII School Facts

Our K-8 private religious school is part of the St. Bernadette Roman Catholic Parish and is located next to St. Bernadette Catholic Church where weekly Mass and other religious activities take place.

Pope John XXIII School is the largest Catholic K-8 elementary school in Arizona.

Our school offers modern classroom facilities including a library, technology media center, music room, and a playground/athletic field. Key support programs include hot lunch, health office, counseling, extended care and tuition assistance.

Faculty and Staff
In addition to our principal and assistant principal, our faculty and staff include 18 teachers, instructional assistants in grades K-7, 2 Spanish teachers, a media specialist, 2 nurses, a music teacher, physical education instructors, an art teacher, a school psychologist and a resource specialist.

Our school is ranked as a "Master Level Faculty" with exceptional credentials, expertise and experience in subject areas. Seventy-nine percent of our faculty have master's degrees or higher. All faculty are dedicated to the Roman Catholic Faith, putting faith first while instilling academic excellence.

Our students have additional teaching support from Instructional Assistants in each classroom, which lowers the Student/Instructor ratio. Instructional Assistants come with exceptional credentials and experience. Most assistants have teaching credentials or are pursuing degrees in education.

Religious Education
The Catholic school environment gives testimony to Roman Catholic morals, values, and ethics in society and in the Church. All students participate in daily classroom prayers and religious education, weekly Mass and other devotional activities.

Academics
PJXXIII has a solid academic program including instruction in mathematics, Language Arts, science, social studies, computers, physical education, Spanish, and an integrated Fine Arts program. PJXXIII is accredited through the North Central Association and the Western Catholic Educational Association. On average, students score above average on the standard Iowa tests. Over 90% of PJXXIII 8th grade students go on to Catholic preparatory high schools.

The Diocesan and State Curriculum for each subject for grades K-8 can be found on the Diocese of Phoenix Web site.

Activities
Student activities for boys and girls include sports (basketball, volleyball, flag football, baseball and softball), chorus, student council and Boy/Girl Scouts. Our major schoolwide events of the year are Harvest Festival (October), Christmas Pageant (December), Talent Show (February) and Field Day (May).

Technology
Innovative and engaging technology is integrated using a state of the art computer lab, software, video clips, online research, digital photography to prepare students for the future. Modern classroom facilities include SmartBoards which support student engagement.

Giving
Pope John XXIII school is blessed to have very active parental volunteer support for events, fundraising and student activities. All students participate in Faith in Action community service programs. The Annual Fund (Annual Appeal) is the primary annual fundraising program for the school, supporting operating expenses that are not covered by tuition.