Religious Studies

Our religious studies curriculum, in the Catholic tradition, is relevant and actionable for our students. In our program we:

• Focus on Catholic Social Teaching and putting faith into action

• Spiritual growth through integration of mindfulness practices and social emotional learning

• Connect Catholic values to their lives

• Increase opportunities for self-reflection

• Embed the charism and spirit of the founding Sisters of St. Joseph as contemplatives in action who serve the dear neighbor. 

The Religious Studies Department aims to meet the needs of the student and model what it means to be a loving, Gospel-valued human being through the students’ four years at Carondelet.

Courses

• An Introduction to Church History

  Course Level(s): 12th grade
  Credits: 5
  Campus: De La Salle
  Prerequisites: 

  none

  This course explores the Catholic Church’s development from its birth as a sect of Judaism to the present day. It begins with a focus on the Ancient Roman world and the historical contexts around the rise of Christianity as a major world religion. The course presents the historical events and persons who have played a vital role in the two-thousand-year history of the Catholic Church’s development. Students will study: the early church’s foundational members; the church councils; the Great Schism; the Middle Ages; the Crusades; the Protestant Reformation; The Global Catholic Church; and the Church in the Americas.

• AP Seminar: Criminal Justice in the United States

  Course Level(s): 12th grade
  Credits: 10
  Campus: Carondelet
  Prerequisites: 

  Successful completion of English 3 or A.P. Language and Composition

  This AP Seminar course on Criminal Justice in the United States is framed within a Catholic social justice perspective, providing students with the tools to research, collaborate, and present on topics related to the U.S. criminal justice system. Through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching students will examine issues such as Media Bias, the Juvenile Justice System, Policing Theory, Mass Incarceration. Students will learn how to analyze information, evaluate arguments, and synthesize research to develop their own evidence-based arguments and communicate them effectively.

• Christian Living: Who am I called to be?

  Course Level(s): 10th grade
  Credits: 10
  Campus: Carondelet
  Prerequisites: 

  None

  Building on the foundation laid in Foundation in Faith, Christian Living explores what it means to follow Christ in the modern world by connecting Scripture, Church teaching, and personal experience. Through themes like faith and doubt, the work of the Holy Spirit, moral decision-making, vocation, and the life of the Church across history, students will wrestle with big questions, learn from saints and role models, and discover their own place in the story of salvation.
  

• Christian Prayer & Meditation

  Course Level(s): 12th grade
  Credits: 5
  Campus: Carondelet
  Prerequisites: 

  None

  This course explores the rich tradition of Christian spirituality and the practice of prayer and meditation within the Christian Tradition. Students will examine key theological concepts related to prayer, various forms of prayer, and practical approaches to deepening one’s spiritual life. Additionally, students will be challenged to make connections between a life of prayer and their daily actions and relationships.

• Foundation in Faith

  Course Level(s): 9th grade
  Credits: 10
  Campus: Carondelet
  Prerequisites: 

  n/a

  This course is designed to develop students’ understanding of the Catholic Faith, as well as the mission and spirituality of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. An introduction to our Carondelet community, centered upon the Sisters’ charism of “unifying love” and their mission “to serve the dear neighbor” seeks to encourage and inspire each student to find their place within our community of faith and belonging. Throughout the year, students will explore the core concepts of God, religion, and the Catholic faith through analysis of key biblical scriptures. Students will also be invited to investigate the benefits of prayer and reflection to deepen one’s spiritual life. By the end of the course, students will have gained a deeper understanding of what it means to live the Catholic faith, rooted in Jesus’ teachings and the gift of unifying love.

• Intro to Philosophy

  Course Level(s): 12th grade
  Credits: 5
  Campus: Carondelet
  Prerequisites: 

  None

  In this course, students will encounter many of the great questions of philosophy and the thinkers who shaped them. We will study figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, and more recent voices, while exploring themes that remain central to the human search for truth. Units will include the human person and the meaning of selfhood, epistemology (how we know what we know), freedom and determinism, the problem of evil and belief in God, and the pursuit of happiness and love. Students will engage classic and contemporary texts, draw connections to Catholic thought and tradition, and test ideas against their own lived experience. The aim of the course is not only to understand philosophy as an academic discipline, but also to reflect on how philosophical wisdom and critical thinking can illuminate everyday life.
  
  
  

• Senior Capstone: Living the Mission

  Course Level(s): 12th grade
  Credits: 5
  Campus: Carondelet
  Prerequisites: 

  None 

  In this culminating project, students will reflect on their four-year journey at Carondelet through the lens of the school’s mission and Integral Student Outcomes (ISOs). Drawing from both academic and co-curricular experiences, students will explore how they have lived out the values of heart, faith, courage, and excellence.

  As part of this reflective process, students will create a digital portfolio (Google Site) that showcases meaningful moments of growth, learning, and leadership—demonstrating how their Carondelet experience has shaped who they are and who they aspire to be.

  This capstone is both personal and purposeful: a chance to celebrate individual growth, connect learning to lived values, and articulate the impact of a Carondelet education. The final site must meet the standards of a passing capstone project as defined by the school’s mission-aligned criteria.

• Spiritual Journey

  Course Level(s): 12th grade
  Credits: 5
  Campus: Carondelet/De La Salle
  Prerequisites: 

  None

  This course invites students to reflect on how they encounter the divine in their lives by reading, analyzing, and discussing the spiritual journeys of others. The accumulated wisdom and spiritual teachings of the men and women of many religious traditions who have gone before us can serve as guides for our own personal spiritual journey. Journal-type reflection questions will assist each student to concretely identify his/her options for a lived spirituality.

• Spirituality in the Arts

  Course Level(s): 11th & 12th grades
  Credits: 5
  Campus: De La Salle
  Prerequisites: 

  n/a

  Religious and spiritual themes have been sources of creativity for various art practitioners since time immemorial. Students will have the perceptual tools and the necessary mental furniture to increase their capacity for awareness by studying the concepts drawn from a range of disciplines including film studies, the philosophy of aesthetics, liturgical and sacramental theology, and art history. Students will also familiarize themselves with critical-analytical tools for visual, performing, and social artistic practices.  

   

  Note: can be taken as a junior elective

• Symbols and Ethics

  Course Level(s): 11th grade
  Credits: 10
  Campus: Carondelet
  Prerequisites: 

  None

  This course invites students to explore their relationships with God, themselves, and others in light of the Sacraments of the Roman Catholic and the Church’s teachings in the areas of Morality and Social Justice. Students will consider the symbolic, ritual, and historical elements of the Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, and will also be challenged to see themselves, others, and their environment as sacred. This will include a consideration of the personal and social dynamics that go into morality and ethical decision-making in light of Church teaching. The issue of justice, particularly social justice, will be studied, and a process for Christian moral decision-making will be learned and applied to contemporary issues of morality and justice with an emphasis on Catholic Social Teaching.
  

• World Religions

  Course Level(s): 12th grade
  Credits: 5
  Campus: De La Salle
  Prerequisites: 

  None

  World Religions introduces the major religious traditions of the world. Using a comparative approach, students explore how these traditions shape meaning, values, ethical life, and practices, from their origins to their ongoing role in contemporary society.