Servers are expected to be in the sacristy 10 minutes before the liturgical service. Students participating in choir sing during school Masses. Students are expected to be on the Altar 10 minutes before Mass begins.
Band instruction is available for a fee for interested students. The instruments may be rented with the option to buy. Small group lessons are provided one period a week and practice is held once a week. The periods are rotated so the same classes are not missed too often.
Officers from grades 7 – 8 and includes a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer. Representatives are selected from each homeroom in grades 5 – 8. To be eligible for office, candidates need the endorsement of two of their core subject-area teachers. Candidates then prepare a speech for the office they are seeking. An assembly is held and the speeches are presented. Ballots are handed out and students in grades 4 – 7 vote. After the ballots are counted and the winners are announced, each homeroom selects a class representative. The officers are given charge of planning and running the meetings with the help of the faculty advisor.
In May each year 4th and 5th grade students present their science fair projects. Our 7th and 8th grade students mentor their underclassmen during this process.
6th graders participate in Invention Convention. Following a field trip to Inventionland in February, students begin working through the engineering design process to produce a prototype of an invention that will solve a real world problem. This is an exciting event that showcases the work of our budding scientists and engineers!
All students in grades 7 and 8 work through the scientific method to ask a question, formulate a hypothesis, design an experiment, collect data and then draw conclusions based on their data. Students present their projects to their classmates, parents and a panel of judges that are invited to our school in January. Students have a choice to compete in the regional Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) competition held at Duquesne University in February each year. Students that earn a first place award at the regional competition at Duquesne University are invited to the state competition at Penn State University, Main Campus, in May to compete against other students from across the state.
The students work through the engineering design process and the project plan cycle to solve a real world problem. Students begin by designing a virtual city in SIM City. While developing their virtual city, students begin to research the scope of the problem that they are trying to solve. Their research culminates in a 1500 word essay that describes their solution to the problem. Next students work to build a three dimensional model of their city of the future that showcases the solution to the problem. Students prepare a presentation and compete against other schools in our region at Carnegie Music Hall in January. The entire project is overseen by a mentor engineer that we partner with in the community.
Students compete with other schools within the Pittsburgh Diocese in six areas of public speaking. The students practice and prepare their pieces from various categories, such as drama and poetry, and deliver their speeches to trained judges on designated competition dates throughout the school year.
In this program, books are carefully selected so that genre, grade level, and ethnic groups are represented. Books from authors in a series are also selected to encourage students to read after the competition. Teams are formed and students begin reading in the Fall. Then, in May, the students come together to meet for a few hours of competition and fun to answer questions about the books.
CDTCA offers boys scouts for boys in Grades K - 5. Boy Scouts meet monthly at CDTCA.