School Specialty. Planning & Student Development

Each month of the Faith & Life planner focuses on a virtue theme, which is introduced through a relevant, age-appropriate story about faith. Corresponding activities encourage students to reflect and put their faith into action.

Throughout the planner, the liturgical calendar is reinforced through Sunday gospel readings, liturgical colors and Prayer & Praise activities. Saints' and holy days are featured on weekly calendar pages.

Meanwhile, ample space for recording, prioritizing and organizing is available, onTRAC® prompts throughout help students Think, Record, Act and Check their goals.

At the primary level, home-to-school communication is extremely important. The Faith & Life - Primary School planner makes it a high priority to ensure parent partnerships are facilitated and supported. Each day, parents can check their child's progress and behavior, and space is provided for teachers and parents to share messages. At-home activities are provided so that parents can continue to engage their child in their faith.

Virtues covered as monthly themes:

• August: Joy

  Each day is a gift. Students are encouraged to recognize and give praise for the life they have been given so that joy can be experienced every day.

• September: Faith

  Students are encouraged to constantly strengthen their faith. Faith requires maintenance, and students are provided inspiration for their personal faith through examples of how others work for and live out what they believe in.

• October: Empathy

  Seeing the world from another person's perspective is a valuable, lifelong skill. Students are asked to put themselves in others' shoes to recognize struggles and strife outside of their own experiences.

• November: Conscience

  Understanding how conscience works and how to cultivate a healthy conscience is important for character development. Students are encouraged to explore their own conscience and are provided strategies for character development.

• December: Hope

  Hope is necessary for students to develop a strong faith. Students are encouraged to establish a basis for hope in their lives through provided tactics for integrating hope into daily practice.

• January: Self-Control

  Self-control is learned, not innate. It requires ongoing practice and diligence. Students are provided faith examples of how to practice self-control in their own lives.

• February: Respect

  Respect is an important virtue, because without it, students are not able to fully practice the other virtues. Students learn about respecting others, as well as having high self respect.

• March: Kindess

  Acts of kindness elevate the soul. Students are introduced to kindness—its definition, examples of what it looks like, and how it relates to their daily lives—and encouraged to put it into practice.

• April: Love

  Above all else, put on love. Students are taught how love is the cornerstone of most virtues. Students must love themselves to gain joy; love God to understand faith; and love others to embrace empathy and respect.

• May: Acceptance

  Jesus practiced all these virtues, but the one He showed most frequently throughout Biblical stories is the virtue of acceptance. Love thy neighbor. Love without hesitancy or judgment. Students are taught via powerful examples of this virtue so they can apply acceptance throughout their own lives.

• June: Fairness

  Students are taught the framework of fairness as it pertains to themselves, the people around them and the real world.

Help elementary school students develop essential organizational skills and inspire them to apply Catholic values in their everyday lives.

• Connects students, school and family through extensive home/school communication and activities
• Encourages and supports students' faith development
• Prompts students to put their faith into practice

Virtues covered as monthly themes:

• August: Joy

  Each day is a gift. Students are encouraged to recognize and give praise for the life they have been given so that joy can be experienced every day.

• September: Faith

  Students are encouraged to constantly strengthen their faith. Faith requires maintenance, and students are provided inspiration for their personal faith through examples of how others work for and live out what they believe in.

• October: Empathy

  Seeing the world from another person's perspective is a valuable, lifelong skill. Students are asked to put themselves in others' shoes to recognize struggles and strife outside of their own experiences.

• November: Conscience

  Understanding how conscience works and how to cultivate a healthy conscience is important for character development. Students are encouraged to explore their own conscience and are provided strategies for character development.

• December: Hope

  Hope is necessary for students to develop a strong faith. Students are encouraged to establish a basis for hope in their lives through provided tactics for integrating hope into daily practice.

• January: Self-Control

  Self-control is learned, not innate. It requires ongoing practice and diligence. Students are provided faith examples of how to practice self-control in their own lives.

• February: Respect

  Respect is an important virtue, because without it, students are not able to fully practice the other virtues. Students learn about respecting others, as well as having high self respect.

• March: Kindess

  Acts of kindness elevate the soul. Students are introduced to kindness—its definition, examples of what it looks like, and how it relates to their daily lives—and encouraged to put it into practice.

• April: Love

  Above all else, put on love. Students are taught how love is the cornerstone of most virtues. Students must love themselves to gain joy; love God to understand faith; and love others to embrace empathy and respect.

• May: Acceptance

  Jesus practiced all these virtues, but the one He showed most frequently throughout Biblical stories is the virtue of acceptance. Love thy neighbor. Love without hesitancy or judgment. Students are taught via powerful examples of this virtue so they can apply acceptance throughout their own lives.

• June: Fairness

  Students are taught the framework of fairness as it pertains to themselves, the people around them and the real world.

Help middle school students develop essential organizational skills and inspire them to apply Catholic values in their everyday lives.

• Connects students, school and family through extensive home/school communication and activities
• Encourages and supports students' faith development
• Prompts students to put their faith into practice

Virtues covered as monthly themes:

• August: Joy

  Each day is a gift. Students are encouraged to recognize and give praise for the life they have been given so that joy can be experienced every day.

• September: Faith

  Students are encouraged to constantly strengthen their faith. Faith requires maintenance, and students are provided inspiration for their personal faith through examples of how others work for and live out what they believe in.

• October: Empathy

  Seeing the world from another person's perspective is a valuable, lifelong skill. Students are asked to put themselves in others' shoes to recognize struggles and strife outside of their own experiences.

• November: Conscience

  Understanding how conscience works and how to cultivate a healthy conscience is important for character development. Students are encouraged to explore their own conscience and are provided strategies for character development.

• December: Hope

  Hope is necessary for students to develop a strong faith. Students are encouraged to establish a basis for hope in their lives through provided tactics for integrating hope into daily practice.

• January: Self-Control

  Self-control is learned, not innate. It requires ongoing practice and diligence. Students are provided faith examples of how to practice self-control in their own lives.

• February: Respect

  Respect is an important virtue, because without it, students are not able to fully practice the other virtues. Students learn about respecting others, as well as having high self respect.

• March: Kindess

  Acts of kindness elevate the soul. Students are introduced to kindness—its definition, examples of what it looks like, and how it relates to their daily lives—and encouraged to put it into practice.

• April: Love

  Above all else, put on love. Students are taught how love is the cornerstone of most virtues. Students must love themselves to gain joy; love God to understand faith; and love others to embrace empathy and respect.

• May: Acceptance

  Jesus practiced all these virtues, but the one He showed most frequently throughout Biblical stories is the virtue of acceptance. Love thy neighbor. Love without hesitancy or judgment. Students are taught via powerful examples of this virtue so they can apply acceptance throughout their own lives.

• June: Fairness

  Students are taught the framework of fairness as it pertains to themselves, the people around them and the real world.

Help high school students develop essential organizational skills and inspire them to apply Catholic values in their everyday lives.

• Encourages and supports students' faith development
• Prompts students to put their faith into practice

Virtues covered as monthly themes:

• August: Joy

  Each day is a gift. Students are encouraged to recognize and give praise for the life they have been given so that joy can be experienced every day.

• September: Faith

  Students are encouraged to constantly strengthen their faith. Faith requires maintenance, and students are provided inspiration for their personal faith through examples of how others work for and live out what they believe in.

• October: Empathy

  Seeing the world from another person's perspective is a valuable, lifelong skill. Students are asked to put themselves in others' shoes to recognize struggles and strife outside of their own experiences.

• November: Conscience

  Understanding how conscience works and how to cultivate a healthy conscience is important for character development. Students are encouraged to explore their own conscience and are provided strategies for character development.

• December: Hope

  Hope is necessary for students to develop a strong faith. Students are encouraged to establish a basis for hope in their lives through provided tactics for integrating hope into daily practice.

• January: Self-Control

  Self-control is learned, not innate. It requires ongoing practice and diligence. Students are provided faith examples of how to practice self-control in their own lives.

• February: Respect

  Respect is an important virtue, because without it, students are not able to fully practice the other virtues. Students learn about respecting others, as well as having high self respect.

• March: Kindess

  Acts of kindness elevate the soul. Students are introduced to kindness—its definition, examples of what it looks like, and how it relates to their daily lives—and encouraged to put it into practice.

• April: Love

  Above all else, put on love. Students are taught how love is the cornerstone of most virtues. Students must love themselves to gain joy; love God to understand faith; and love others to embrace empathy and respect.

• May: Acceptance

  Jesus practiced all these virtues, but the one He showed most frequently throughout Biblical stories is the virtue of acceptance. Love thy neighbor. Love without hesitancy or judgment. Students are taught via powerful examples of this virtue so they can apply acceptance throughout their own lives.

• June: Fairness

  Students are taught the framework of fairness as it pertains to themselves, the people around them and the real world.

Live your faith.

This planner encourages students to learn and live by their faith. Students explore the meaning of their spiritual values for inspiration in their own lives.

Increase family communication.

The planner includes home-to-school communication and activities to help families and students connect in an educationally-beneficial way.

Success through planning.

Students learn time management, organization, goal setting skills and how to apply them in the planner—a great benefit to address every aspect of one’s life.

Supported with educator tools.

To ensure our products are easy to use and provide the most impact possible, we provide extra resources that help educators integrate the program into the classroom. Learn more about our product support in the Online section above.

The included educator support pieces elevate the program's effectiveness without adding more work for busy teachers. That is why we created Faith.schoolspecialty.com, a password-protected website where educators can download support pieces.

• Resource support package: Program overview, staff support guide, classroom teacher guide, and parent/family guide—all available for download to help teach the onTRAC® planning system.
• Lesson plans: These 11 ready-made lesson plans reinforce concepts introduced in the Faith & Life planner. Extension activities are also included to help take specific lessons further.
• PDFs for use on interactive whiteboards: Download a reusable onTRAC® calendar PDF that helps educators model planner use and teach the onTRAC® planning system. Go one step further and order the full planner PDF to model the student planner in its entirety.
• Family newsletters: Send these already prepared newsletters to encourage home-to-school communication and address the same topics found in the Faith & Life planners.
• Quarterly educator newsletters: These newsletters provide information and tips to administrators and educators about the resources available and how to utilize them effectively. Delivered four times per year: August, October, January and March.

All this support adds additional value and helps educators get the most from the Faith & Life planner program.

Planners are great tools for your students, but why not have them work a little harder for you. Customize them with your school's information, and use them as a continual communication piece between administrators, teachers and students.

School Handbook:

The most efficient and cost-effective way to communicate school policies, schedules and events is to add your important school information right into your planners. Learn more about school handbooks.

Handbook Resource Pages:

Add additional academic resources to your handbook. Choose from more than 100 resource pages. Our extensive library of helpful resource pages can assist students in a number of subject areas. View our complete library of resource pages.

Content Supplements:

Put a spotlight on important issues relevant to your school by choosing from our vast library of supplements. Advance school priorities with resources tied to current curriculum and standards, critical life skills, health and wellness, and more.

Cover:

Design your own cover that reflects school spirit, or choose from one of our templates that align with the goals you've established for your school. Incorporate your school name front and center, right on the cover!

Enhancements:

Add a few more features to make your planners truly inspiring to students. Planning stickers, pagefinders, trackable hall passes, planner tabs, student ID/CD/Home-School pouches, two-hole ruler attachments – choose the enhancements that raise the cool factor.