St. Martin of Tours Catholic School

St. Martin of Tours Catholic School (Abbreviated to St. Martin, St. Martin of Tours School, St. Martin of Tours, or simply SMT is a private Catholic School in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. It is a school to about 200 students.

History

St. Martin of Tours School was founded September 13, 1954 by pastor, Reverend Augustine C. Murray, who founded the parish in 1946. The school consisted of nine classrooms, an office, an auditorium, and a library. From 1954 through 1979 the school was administered and staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Monsignor Lawrence O'Leary became pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish in March, 1979. In September, 1979, a lay administrator assumed the role of the principal. In September of 1997, a renovation to the campus was completed, adding a religion resource room, fine arts room, library, art room, science laboratory, two additional classrooms, teachers' workroom, and administrative offices. In 2001, the original classrooms were extensively refurbished. July of 2003, Monsignor O'Leary became Pastor Emeritus and Father Michael Grieco was appointed administrator of the parish. In 2005, Father Peter Foran was appointed administrator of St. Martin of Tours Parish. The art room, computer room, faculty lounge, and conference room were refurbished in the summer of 2005. In 2007, Fr. Ben Le was appointed administrator of St. Martin of Tours Parish. A sister of St. Joseph of Carondolet was appointed the school's Director of Religious Education.

Faculty

Mrs. Cecile Oswald, has been the principal since 1989. The current staff consists of: Thirteen (13) full-time teachers; Six (6) part-time teachers, including a lay vice principal who teaches science, social studies, and Latin; a music teacher; a Spanish teacher; a full-time physical education director, Science teacher, and librarian. In addition, two sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet continue to serve in the school. Not included in the above staff positions are three part-time aides, one full-time health coordinator, and three part-time coaches. A part-time educational consultant is on campus one day per week.

Admissions

St. Martin of Tours starts at Kindergarten and ends with Eighth Grade. There is no gap between Middle School and Elementary School. Transfers into Eighth Grade are usually discouraged.

Curriculum

Studies include English, Social Studies, Math, and Theology. Students take a Spanish course from grades K to 5th. St. Martin also boasts the teaching of Latin from sixth to eighth grade on a regular curriculum (replaces Spanish). Unfortunately for those who wish to continue taking Spanish, they are not allowed to change. Homework amounts vary with a steady rise as a student goes up a grade. Seventh and Eighth graders are usually given up to four hours of homework at certain times of the year.

Athletics

St. Martin of Tours is sometimes limited in the amount of sports due to a lack of grass on campus. Nonetheless, they have football teams that go to practice at Barrington Park, which is nearby. Also, there are volleyball (girls only), basketball, and track teams (sometimes practice at nearby parks or Santa Monica College). There are also golf and hockey events but are mainly intramural and not in the official Athletics calendar. Future expansions are also being discussed with the possibility of soccer and volleyball for boys. St. Martin of Tours School also has an annual event called "Sports Day." This is held near the end of the school year at Barrington Park. There are three colors: Blue, White, and Yellow. The names for blue are Loyola (boys) and Marymount (girls). White Team is Crespi (boys) and Louisville (girls). Yellow is Notre Dame (boys and girls). This day consists of games instead of sports to let both the older and younger grades participate and have a good time. One example is tug of war, which is actually one of the sports. St. Martin of Tours's mascot is the Eagle with crowds cheering "SMT!"

External links

* [http://www.smtschool.net/frames/index.html Official website]