Mother Teresa Catholic Academy

Mother Teresa Catholic Academy is a Catholic Microschool in Crete, IL.  We are the first Microschool in the Diocese of Joliet.  As a Microschool, we see our smallness as a superpower!  Our small size allows us advantages that a larger school does not have.  We know each of our students and their families well!  We are a big family here; in fact, visitors to our school often comment on the family-feeling they get as soon as they walk through our doors.  

As a Catholic Microschool, we operate academically under the multiage classroom model.  This means that our curriculum is tailored to each student individually, so we meet each student wherever he or she is, accelerate them when needed, and provide additional support as needed.  Our students don’t memorize material for a test only to forget it later; at our school, we strive for mastery of skills.  Because each student is working at a more individualized pace, they are more committed to and actively engaged in their own learning.  We teach our students to advocate for themselves as well as teaching them how to do so.  

          Because we are a small community (and a big family), we are able to evangelize our students and families directly and indirectly.  In the last four years, seven of our non-Catholic students have decided to become Catholic, in some cases seeking Baptism, and in others, seeking to receive other Sacraments.  Our non-Catholic students pray with the entire community, attend and participate in Mass, praying the Rosary,  and other prayer experiences, and engage in Religion class.  These are all opportunities we make use of to evangelize our students directly.  Additionally, parents often report that they and their families have returned to weekly Mass attendance because we so often speak at school about the importance of going to Mass each Sunday.  Since the children ask to go to Mass, parents are taking them.  We are able to indirectly evangelize families in this way.

  We are conservative with our resources and spend money carefully.  To this end, we were able to secure a grant to purchase new Math and ELA books for the entire school.  We would absolutely love to be able to update our Science and Social Studies curriculum as well as purchase more resources for our new STREAM lab!  We also got funding through another grant to pay for new interactive screens for each of the classrooms.  We work very hard to find funding in alternate places, and we would be so appreciative of your gift as well!       

Our little school serves an important role in the community and in the lives of our students and their families.  Some students do well in a large school, but all of our students thrive in our school.  With more one-on-one attention and instruction coupled with individualized learning paths, dedicated teachers and staff, and parents who really need and want a Catholic education for their children, Mother Teresa Catholic Academy is an academically excellent and unapologetically Catholic school!  Please help support our students as we raise them to be good Catholics, good citizens, and active participants in their community!