Featured School

Regina Coeli Academy

Michelle Fowler, headmistress of Regina Coeli Academy outside Philadelphia, attributes much of her school’s success to the teachers.  “Our success comes first from teachers living the faith and teaching the faith, teachers who are faithful to the Magisterium.  We started with excellent teachers in our founding, and we've added more through advertising with, for example, Catholicjobs.com and NAPCIS [the National Association of Private Catholic Independent Schools].  We have also advertized through excellent Catholic colleges such as Christendom and the Franciscan University of Steubenville.”

Regina Coeli promotes an attitude of learning among the faculty. “Teachers need to model learning.  If I stop learning, I stop being a teacher,” Michelle says.  Monthly faculty development sessions center around a common reading.  Sometimes individual teachers will lead sessions in their subject areas.  Teachers are encouraged to pursue Master’s degrees.

Developing teachers is crucial to meeting the high expectations set for the students.  For example, Regina Coeli requires Algebra I of its students.  “We can do this because of our dedicated teachers and small class sizes that allow for one-on-one attention as needed.”

Another key to success for Regina Coeli is the use of literature throughout the curriculum.  “We believe in reading to learn,” Michelle says, “and focus on language excellence.  We see history as a story, so we use literature to bring it to life.  In our religion program, besides the Baltimore catechism and the Faith and Life series, we use saint stories and Bible history.  These build a firm foundation for religious knowledge.”

Regina Coeli has had to adjust to help students.  Michelle explains, “We noticed from our experience and from reading comprehension scores that students were struggling with the literature, so we put more time into developing those skills with our students.  This has paid off in every area of the curriculum.”