www.stcornelius.net (St. Cornelius Catholic School, Long Beach, CA)

Faith Formation at St. Cornelius Catholic School

Religious Education Program

For information about the Religious Education Programs click here

Altar Servers

Altar servers assist the priest at weekday and weekend Masses.

Faith Formation for St. Cornelius Catholic School Students

Faith formation activities for the students enrolled at St. Cornelius Catholic School are listed below, as well as a report on how we are integrating the social teachings of our church into our Catholic School.

Faith Formation for the Church Community

For information on the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), Confirmation Classes, Adult Ministries, Outreach Programs, and Spiritual Organizations call the rectory office at (562) 421-8966.

Integrating the Social Teachings of the Church into the School

A report on how the school has put a face on the "Option for the Poor and Vulnerable" and how we have also integrated a respect for life into our school curriculum.

A. Our goal for all of our school projects was to remind the students that our outreach to the poor and to the vulnerable comes in all forms and includes our school community, our larger community, and the world community. We brainstormed, as a faculty, as classes, and as student council to decide how we could best serve the poor and vulnerable. We decided to use as many parish and community services as we could when we began our "outreach projects". We also focused on projects that different grades could identify with. We also wanted to put faces and names to the poor and vulnerable so that we could foster an emotional connection with them. We also wanted to adopt programs that could be ongoing.

The response from students, parents, and the parish has been very supportive.

1. Our First and Second Grade Classes entertain the elderly people who attend the "People for Others Luncheons" that are held at our parish once a month.

2. Our Sixth Grade Class sells crosses to help a mission church in Mexico.

3. As an entire school, we participated in the C.H.P. (Highway Patrol) Toy Drive this last Christmas. We also collected food from all the classes to make Thanksgiving Baskets for our Parish Sister to distribute to those people who come to her for assistance.

4. Our Student Council promotes various "Free Dress Days" during which they sell tickets to students to enable them to wear free dress. All the money from these "days" goes to our Parish Sister, to Holy Childhood, or to Los Padrinos. We sponsored an "All Saint's Day Mass for the whole parish and we collected money for Senator Dole's WWII Monument. The Student Council is also starting the drive through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, to sponsor one child from a Third World country. This will be an ongoing project so that we can enable this child to go to school and to have proper nourishment and medical care throughout his or her school career.

5. Our Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Classes help to spearhead a project to collect items from the students to provide Christmas gifts for the children who are incarcerated at the California Youth Authority at Los Padrinos.

6. Our Seventh Grade Class makes Easter Baskets for the children at "Su Casa" a shelter for abused women and children. This has also become an annual project.

7. Our Eighth Grade Class makes Valentine's Day Cards for the seniors at Mary Crest Manor. This will become an annual project.

8. To help promote the dignity of each person, through our school wide "Politeness Program” we focus on respect and how we show respect to teachers, staff, and students. We have a "Politeness Banner” made by the students on display in the small hall where all can see. We constantly remind the students of the need to show courtesy to each other, to teachers and staff, and to all we meet. We make up a "Politeness Policy" for each class; this is displayed in each classroom and referred to constantly.