Facilities

Saint Clement School opened its doors in 1906.  The school underwent renovations in 1925, 1935, and 2003 to create the school campus we are privileged to have today.

Media Center

Recently upgraded to contain 25 iMacs and a SmartBoard with mounted projector, our Media Center provides a central technology resource for our Kindergarten through 3rd grade students.  This multimedia classroom is seen as simply an extension of each teacher's classroom and is used continuously to integrate technology into our core curriculum.  Our fourth and fifth grade students share a mobile lab of 25 MacBooks, which they use in their classroom daily.  If that resource is in use, the Media Center is available to them.  Our middle school students began a 1-to-1 initiative last year, including Apple MacBooks in 6th & 7th grade and iPad 2's in 8th grade.

Library

Saint Clement School devotes significant resources to make our library the heart of our school, dedicated to supporting our school's curriculum and to encourage life-long readers.  The collection includes over 15,000 continually updated resources, and is managed by our licensed library media specialist and three library assistants. 

We believe that our library is the information center of the school and plays an integral part in fostering the development of global citizens for the future. In accordance with the ALA standards, the library/media center provides resources and learning activities that represent a diversity of experiences, opinions, and social and cultural perspectives.  The library program ensures that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information. The librarian empowers students to be critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and ethical users of information.  From our youngest four-year-old students to our 8th graders, our library is crucial to the development of life-long learners and readers.

Mural

In January, 2004, Simes Studios unveiled a mural depicting St. Francis' Canticle of Living Creatures in the Saint Clement School library.  This mural was conceived as a very large faux illuminated manuscript, to decorate the upper section of the library utilizing a poem and richly ornate capitals. The individual letters give an overlook of ten centuries of fine calligraphy and book art, as found in some of the most important incunabula in public and private collections. The poem/psalm by St. Francis of Assisi is an inspired and powerful praise to God and His many creations. The framework of the mural is a fusion of Celtic braided and geometric ornaments and Franco-Saxon structure, and has been extended to the three walls between the west windows, to consolidate the architectural features of the room and the overall design of the mural.

In the poem, the capital letters are indicated by gold dots surrounding each letter. The first letter of each stanza has been painted in red, and the end of each stanza is indicated by a gilded symbol.

About the Poem

"To people the world over Saint Francis is known as the founder of a famous religious order and a symbol of humility and brotherly love. Less known is the fact that this man, who in his early twenties severed all ties with his family and renounced wealth and social position to lead a life of poverty and meditation, is also the author of one of the first works of artistic value in Italian literature, the 'Cantico delle creature.'

"'Cantico delle creature,' Saint Francis' only work in verse form and in the vernacular (all his other writings are in Latin prose), is a sort of psalm in praise of God and His creations and vividly captures the essence of the Saint's elemental philosophy. Apart from its message, however, this poem offers a striking example of pure lyric achievement. The impact of its freshness and serene solemnity, particularly in the last stanza, where death is evoked, has not lost any of its force through the centuries.

"According to the oldest Franciscan sources, the 'Cantico' was composed in the church of San Damiano near Assisi in 1224, the year in which Saint Francis received the stigmata. The first seven stanzas were written after a vision of eternal bliss; the eighth stanza was added some time later; and the poem was completed shortly before the Saint's death."

Gymnasium

Our gymnasium is located within our school building, allowing all students in Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade to have Physical Education class at least once a week.  The facility is also used for before school care and recess time during school hours.  After hours, sports practices are held in the gymnasium, as are church-sponsored adult athletic activities.

A stage is also incorporated into the space to allow a venue for many school concerts, talent shows, and other artistic performances.

Rooftop Playground

As part of our renovation unveiled in 2003, we incorporated a rooftop playground to give our students a place to run and enjoy the outdoors within a safe environment.  A rubberized surface protects our children from the scrapes of concrete, and fencing surrounds the entire area.

Our children enjoy recess time here, as well as during other times of the day when teachers need to have students burn off some extra energy!