“The only real schooling trains the mind, the body, and the spirit to strive for synthesis. The challenge in modern life and education still remains to reintegrate poetry and physics, art and chemistry, music and biology, dance and sociology, and every other possible combination of aesthetic and analytical knowledge, to foster people who feel that they want to know and know that they want to feel."
Walter Gropius
Architect, educator, futurist
Walk the halls of Pius at the start of any school day and you’ll begin to see what sets this school apart.
Adults and teens greet each other warmly. There’s mutual respect that seems to bring out the best in both. It flows from the Pius XI philosophy that teachers help students on their journey to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence required to be independent thinkers and lifelong, faith-based difference makers.
Kids are clustered around lockers, talking and laughing. There are theater kids and athletes, artists and ‘pre-engineers’…kids sailing through AP Calculus, kids working around learning disabilities … kids in campus ministry, kids in ComedySportz…each of whom is so much more.
And hey, they all seem to get along. There’s that mutual respect again. Diversity is integral to the Pius XI experience – not only in the student body, but also coursework and pathways to success
Students are off to TAC – the home base where they’ll start and end each school day for all four years. It’s a “community within the community” that includes approximately 20 students, freshmen through seniors, and a TAC teacher advisor. “TAC families” develop bonds that span the grade levels, prompting kids to look out for one another.
Through the TAC program, Pius provides the intimacy and personal attention of a small school while taking advantage of its size to offer a broad and rich high school curricula. Comprising nearly 200 courses, the curriculum includes the area’s most extensive fine arts program (with nationally recognized Visual Arts, Drama, and Music departments), an outstanding four-year Theology program adopted as a model by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a Special Studies program to assist students with learning disabilities, and eight Advanced Placement courses.
At Pius XI, students discover their unique gifts through a tailor-made curriculum that actively engages him/her in the realization of his/her potential. For those seeking post-secondary education, the Pius XI education offers a truly innovative, college-ready curriculum.
Look at any student’s schedule and you’ll discover another difference maker. It’s a college-style schedule, with a different line-up every day of the five-day cycle. It not only keeps the teenage brain engaged, but also lets teachers carve out an appropriate block of time for a given learning activity.
A Pius hallmark for more than 30 years, the unique schedule helps students learn quickly to manage their time, making the college transition much easier. It even allows students on a full honors schedule to take elective courses every semester. It also helps explain our success in attracting and retaining a creative and committed faculty, who say the schedule affords the flexibility they need to do their best work with students.
The teacher-student relationship, the TAC program, the distinctive schedule, the wide-ranging curriculum…wherever you look, you’ll see signs of a school designed around a singular purpose: to help each student discover, develop and share his or her God-given talents. This student-centered learning model and the culture of Catholic values at its core make Pius XI a place where children blossom into confident, creative, compassionate young adults.
We welcome you to Discover Pius on a school dayand see for yourself what sets this place apart.