Offering A Comprehensive Curriculum

CARING FROM DAY ONE

Saint Raphael Academy offers a comprehensive curriculum to all students. Advanced students will be stimulated by an assortment of honors and AP classes, as well as academic programs like Moore Scholars and clubs like Math League.

Students who need more attention academically feel embraced by our community and will soon thrive in our College Preparatory program and provided enrichment such as Summer Readiness and tutoring. We meet students where they are and help them to achieve success.

You will find dedicated and caring faculty and staff that are equally committed to helping all students succeed and have a positive high school experience. Our diverse student body fosters a host of different viewpoints and experiences, leading to richer class discussions and broader social understanding.

Our Programs

Saint Raphael Academy is a college preparatory, Catholic, Lasallian, coeducational high school guided by the charism of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. We offer a rigorous academic curriculum in a nurturing environment that addresses the needs and learning styles of our students. Both independent learners and students who may need more academic support will find success here. We strive to meet students at their current levels of academic achievement and enhance their reading and writing skills, knowledge, and critical thinking abilities so they can reach their fullest potential.

Academic programs of study include Honors, Advanced College Placement, and College Placement levels. In addition, Saint Raphael offers The Advanced Placement Program (AP), Virtual High School (additional AP classes not offered by the Academy) and Early Enrollment Program (EEP) through Rhode Island College.

The Academy fully integrates STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art+Design, Math) education into its curriculum and instruction. Students are active in creative problem-solving and discovering unique ways to learn and engage with faculty and classmates.

Honor Roll

Every year, more than 60 percent of our student body is named to the honor roll for their excellent academic achievement.

Course Placement

Philosophy

Within its overall college preparatory program, Saint Raphael Academy makes provisions for both the exceptionally talented and for the usual aspirant to higher education.

The philosophy which guides the faculty at Saint Raphael Academy in its attitude towards students and the curriculum is a sound one. Personal involvement, self-initiation, and evaluation – all are felt to be integral to any search for a significant or experiential system of learning. Basic to its understanding is the element of accountability. The entire school community realizes that with freedom in scheduling and in handling of unstructured time comes responsibility and accountability for such choices. The Saints experience attempts to prepare all students to face such decisions, which will be a fundamental part of their academic and post-scholastic lives.

Level Placement
Students are generally placed according to their abilities. Periodic adjustments may be made to move students to the sections more in keeping with their abilities. Students are encouraged to challenge themselves with rigorous coursework.

Freshmen are placed into the appropriate level based upon the high school entrance exam and evaluation of middle school grades. Once enrolled, freshmen may be asked to take additional proficiency assessments in English, mathematics, or languages to provide more specific evidence for placement. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors are placed into course levels based on course prerequisites, student performance, teacher recommendation and student input/interest. Coursework is college-preparatory, and all students are expected to apply to college.

Academic Support

Tutoring

Tutoring is available for students who are experiencing difficulty in a subject; students’ guidance counselors can arrange tutoring. A goal of the Office of Academic Affairs is to help each student achieve their best. When a student needs extra help, the Office of Academic Affairs may require mandatory tutoring after reviewing their progress reports each marking period.

The Benilde Program

The Benilde Program at Saint Raphael Academy is a nationally recognized, unique approach for bright students with mild learning needs, health problems, or other circumstances that may prevent them from realizing their full academic potential. The program works with Benilde students as they integrate in the same classes and activities as all other Saints students, allowing them to pursue a college preparatory course of study. The program helps students to understand and take responsibility for their own learning needs and successfully complete high school.

Service Hours

Service hours are an important part of Saint Raphael Academy’s identity as a Catholic School. Freshmen and sophomores are required to complete a minimum of ten hours of Christian service per year while juniors and seniors are required to complete a minimum of 20 hours. Students may choose to volunteer at such locations as food banks, churches, hospitals, schools, nursing homes or any direct volunteer activity that provides a positive contribution to the community.  At the end of each year, students will be required to share their reflections on the insights that they gained through their service and connect such reflections to the Lasallian call to justice for all humans.

Our goal as individual counselors and as a department is to encourage and embolden students as they build toward a confident college-preparatory experience. Recognizing that lifelong lessons can be grounded in high school experiences, guidance counselors aim to support students throughout every new endeavor.

A cornerstone of the Saint Raphael Academy experience is the student-parent-school relationship. Along that line, student success is predicated on strong home/school communication. Students are encouraged to seek out answers to questions and follow their dreams.

Please let us know your questions and concerns. We are here to encourage and assist in the success of not just the individual student, but the entire community.

Freshmen

Students meet with their counselors throughout each year. Counselors visit classrooms and discuss study skills, social concerns, and post-graduation strategies. Counselors also meet with each student individually to develop academic goals and college plans.

Sophomores

Whereas freshman year is a transition to a new environment and junior and senior years are building towards graduation and college plans, sophomore year is an opportunity to solidify academic record and personal success.

Students should engage with their academic success, build on extracurricular experiences and understand relationships. These three quick tips can be critical to long-term success. We encourage students to get involved in the community through activities they feel passionately about. This will also help build a resume that colleges will be impressed with.

Juniors

Planning for graduation and beyond might feel like a long way off but engaging in the process in junior year can make senior year less stressful and more successful. Academically, this will be the last full set of grades admissions offices will see, so it is important to keep grades up.  This is the time to build a high level of college readiness.

Guidance counselors meet with students in class and individually to begin the college search process. As each student is unique, each search is unique, and we are prepared to work with students and families.

The guidance office coordinates on-campus visits from colleges and universities throughout the year and plans a college fair in the fall. During these opportunities, students can have a one-to-one conversation with admission representatives and receive a more personal exchange of information.

Seniors

Seniors should plan on this being a busy year. If students are organized and fully prepared for the college search and application process, it will help reduce their stress.

Counselors meet extensively with each student throughout this important year. Both in the classroom setting and individually, students have numerous opportunities to discuss their own personal goals.

Students’ teachers will inform them of school supplies needed during the first week of classes and give them ample time to purchase any texts. Most of our textbooks are online texts that are free to students. If you do need to buy any books, we will direct students to a particular site that we have found to be more reasonably priced, or you may use one of your own choice.

*Please note that students are also assigned summer reading books, which must be purchased and completed prior to the start of school.

All students at Saint Raphael Academy are issued laptops for use during the academic year at no additional cost. Students are given a school e-mail address to better communicate with teachers, staff, and fellow classmates.

Saint Raphael Academy is a Microsoft School focusing on leading and learning, emphasizing personalized learning for students by using 1:1 devices and current cloud technology, such as Office 365 for Education, Office Mix, OneNote, and more.

Charging Stations

Charging stations are located in all mathematics, English and theology classrooms, and students are expected to bring their chargers to school. Additional outlets can be found in the computer and science labs.

Tech Center

The SRA Tech Center is located on the second floor of the White Building adjacent to the Mills Family Student Center. Students can book an appointment with the Tech Center for help with computer issues using the link found on PlusPortals. 

The College Resource Center is a comfortable space in the White Building full of resources about higher education and career pathways. Students may come to the center to research options for higher learning, get information about scholarships that may qualify for, and have a quiet comfortable space to work on college applications.

Planning for College Resources

Easily Apply Online

All you have to do is create an account with us to submit an application.