When emergency conditions have been declared by the county, such as severe weather conditions (hurricane, tornadoes, flood), schools may be closed.

Cardinal Newman High School follows the decision of the Palm Beach County Public School District. However, circumstances may allow CNHS to re-open at a time different than the public district.

All CNHS school-closing information will be conveyed through RenWeb’s Parent Alert, the CNHS website and Social Media. In addition, the local media will be provided with this information.

CNHS promotes the use of technology in any area of a student’s education where technology is useful and beneficial. Our educational technology program brings together iPads, ebooks, and many other digital resources to ensure that our students have the tools they need to be successful.

In addition to integrating technology in our everyday activities, CNHS also offers a Computer Science/Information Technology curriculum that challenges students to explore the foundational concepts of computational thinking and problem solving, as well as the impact of technology in our society.

To be prepared for the most competitive college and universities, Cardinal Newman High School students take four years of English. English I provides an introduction to academic writing, literature by genre, grammar, and vocabulary. English II focuses on world literature and writing academic essays about the literature selections. English III is a survey of American literature and academic essays. English IV is a survey of British literature and academic essays.

English I Honors and English II Honors are AP courses. We offer AP Literature and Composition and AP Literature and Language. Additionally, we offer St. Thomas University credit for American literature and British literature.

The Science department is at the intersection of the changes in this world. It provides a focus on the biological, chemical, environmental, and physical phenomenon of the universe. The department exposes the students to the objective nature of science and the curriculum’s lack of bias. The laboratory exercises promote the scientific method where accurate analysis of data can take place. Each course enlightens the student to practical material that affects their lives in the 21st century. Biology, the living sciences, and Marine science explore cells, anatomy, physiology, sea life, and the natural world. Chemistry and physical sciences discover the elements, chemicals, advanced chemical equations, and chemical interactions. Physics showcases matter and energy, which affect our daily lives. A sound education requires a strong science background, which the science department strives to provide.

The Mathematics Department offers a sequence of rigorous courses that cover traditional college preparatory material and align with the Florida State Standards and the Palm Beach Diocesan Standards. The chief goals of mathematics instruction at Cardinal Newman Catholic High School are developing problem-solving abilities and understanding. The Mathematics Department believes that these are at the heart of mathematics and transfer to other academic areas and beyond. Through various instructional methods across all levels, students are introduced to and given time to practice concepts. The department assesses student performance primarily through individual teacher-created quizzes, unit tests, and cumulative midterm and final examinations.

The Mathematics Department believes that students need a balance between calculator and non-calculator problem-solving. When working analytically, students are expected to show their steps and explain their work. The foundations of algebra are essential to a student’s success and are an integral part of all levels of mathematics. The department offers a variety of courses to allow students to be successful.

Students must earn four credits in mathematics while at Cardinal Newman to be eligible for graduation.

The Cardinal Newman Foreign Language Department is dedicated to developing each student’s language and cultural proficiency to be better prepared for a global society. Our courses emphasize utilizing the target language and culture to communicate through the four skills of speaking, reading, writing and listening. We offer various classes from Spanish I Regular and Honors for the true beginners to Spanish IV Honors, Spanish 5 Honors, AP Spanish Language, and AP Spanish Literature. Students are eligible to earn up to 2 years of college credit in Foreign Language through our partnership with St. Thomas University’s Dual Enrollment Program. We strive to educate each student to become linguistically, proficient global citizens.

The Cardinal Newman High School’s Social Studies Department offers a well-rounded curriculum and strives for excellence and rigor in all of its programs. Our prime objective is to encourage informed, responsible and active participants in a democratic society.

Our teachers foster an investigatory approach towards learning that places a premium on participation, analysis, and evaluation of historical questions and topics. We believe that learning a simple chain of chronological events does not help prepare the students for the increasingly fast, diverse, and challenging world they will be entering upon graduation. To enable them to do so, students need to master the necessary skills: critical thought, researching, interpreting documents and data, effective communication, and reading & expository writing. In any given Social Studies class at Cardinal Newman High School, you can see students engaged in discussions, encountering different viewpoints or experiences, and developing their ideas from a curriculum that is explored, not merely covered. Throughout all of their Social Studies coursework, students are consistently reminded how history is relevant to their lives.

Cardinal Newman High School Social Studies Department offers 14 courses:

• World History
• Honors World History
• United States History to 1900
• AP United States History to 1900
• AP United States History
• Twentieth-Century History
• American Government
• AP United States Government and Politics
• Economics with Financial Literacy
• AP Human Geography
• Honors International Relations
• AP Psychology

“Lions would have fared better, had lions been the artists” – Cardinal John Henry Newman

The Cardinal Newman Fine Arts department comprises five disciplines: Art, Theater, Chorus, Band, and Dance. Every Christmas, the Fine Arts department performs at the school’s performance venue, and every spring, the Fine Arts department culminates its work at the Palm Beach State College Theater. The department also travels in and out of state for various theme park festivals and competitions. Our arts department has received many Superior and Excellent ratings as well as first place accomplishments. Our students are exposed to many college directors and leading guest artists. More importantly, our students learn to express themselves in song, art, and dance; and are learning the intrinsic to extrinsic spiritual language that words cannot express.

The Art Department each year implements creativity in the various styles, modes, and materials of the visual arts world. Each semester the art department displays their work throughout the school for multiple projects, events, holidays, celebrations, and high holy days. Our arts students also contribute to the school musical each year in prop production and display their work at the venues for the end of semester performing arts concerts.

The theater department is composed of members of all the performing arts. Preparations start in November of each year. The musical’s peak season is at the end of the year. The season’s dress rehearsals and performances culminate over one week. Our theater students also compete in county and state solo and ensemble events and reviews.

The Cardinal Newman vocal department is the flagship of our faith in aural practice. The chorus is divided into three sections: mass ensemble, theater ensemble, and concert chorus. Within the three ensembles are chamber ensembles such as but not limited to: mixed choir, a ladies choir, and men’s chorus. The ensemble performs for local missions such as various civic and community service events, retirement and nursing homes. The group also performs two major concerts every year. Our choral students also participate in county and state events.

The Newman instrumental department is based on its concert band. The group also branches out into other disciplines such as jazz band, jazz combo, brass choir, woodwind choir, small chamber groups, and solos. Each year the band participates at the Florida Bandmasters Association concert band, jazz band, and solo and ensemble evaluations. Our students also participate at various college honor bands, county, and state honor band sanctioned events. They also perform for local civic community service events and parades. Our band students also proudly participate in the school’s mass ensemble.

Our dance studio comprises students trained in Latin, ballet, modern dance, and pop. Each semester the dance team performs for various pep rallies’ football games, civic and community service events. Dance ensemble members also participate in the yearly musical, and the group performs a recital at the end of each semester.

The Religion Department at Cardinal Newman High School seeks to provide for our students a foundational experience of developing both their faith and reason. We follow the lead of our patron St. John Henry Cardinal Newman who wrote that: “A great memory does not make a mind, any more than a dictionary is a piece of literature.” More than minimally recalling information we strive to inspire our students to critically explore and put into practice the rich deposit of faith of the Catholic Tradition that has been passed on to us since the time of Jesus. We not only foster an opportunity of academic rigor but we also emphasize the importance of developing as people of prayer.

Just as Jesus is both fully human and divine, we who participate in his life come to be more in touch with the full human expression of body, mind, and spirit, for the “Glory of God is the human being fully alive” (St. Irenaeus). The foundational curriculum texts that we use is from Ave Maria Press and follows the U.S. Bishops Curriculum Framework.

The principal areas of study are as follows for each grade. Freshman will have an introduction to the Old Testament in the fall semester and the New Testament in the Spring. Sophomores will explore the Sacramental life of the Church in the Fall and Morality and Ethics in the Spring. Juniors and seniors can follow four tracks, regular, honors, dual enrollment with St. Thomas University, and I.B. There is no AP religion available. Juniors study Catholic Social Teaching in the Fall and Church History regular and honors and History of Christian Thought I, dual enrollment, in the Fall. Seniors will participate in Christian Living regular and honors, Christian Lifestyle, dual enrollment, and finish with World Religion, regular, honors and dual enrollment.

Students at Cardinal Newman are also encouraged to put their faith in action. Though Roman Catholic, non-Catholic students have opportunties to participate in the spiritual life of the campus as well. All students are required to complete a minimum of 25 hours of community service each school year. Students are also invited to participate regularly in leading prayer over the loudspeaker in the morning, before lunch, or at the end of the day. Students will also be provided with opportunities to participate in class retreats as well as voluntary retreats such as the Emmaus and Liturgical minister retreats each year. Whole Masses are provided on Holy Days of Obligation and for special events, giving students opportunities to serve as altar servers, lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, and in the Mass Ensemble. Morning liturgy is provided each day in the chapel at 7:00 am, student led prayer services online and class led prayer services are offered throughout the school year. Various clubs like the Life Club, Liturgical Club and Catholic Youth Group also give students opportunities to practice their faith.

• Qualifications for Incoming Freshmen (All of the following must be met)
  • Score at or above the 85th percentile on at least three sections of the High School Placement Exam.
  • Do not score below the 50th percentile on any section of the High School Placement Exam.
  • 85% or above in TerraNova (or another standardized test) in Reading, Math, and English.
  • Exceptional Middle School Grades.
  • All students must maintain exceptional attendance and conduct throughout middle school (applicant’s report card required).
• Students who do not qualify as an incoming freshman can be invited and admitted at subsequent intervals. To be invited, the student must:
  • Have a cumulative weighted GPA of 4.0 or above at the end of each school year.
  • Have at least 3 honors classes during the academic year.
  • Have no grade lower than a B in any subject.
  • Maintain exceptional attendance and conduct records.
  • Meet or exceed all service requirements and have at least 2 extra-curricular activities including athletics and clubs.
• Academic Requirements to Remain in the Program
  • Have a cumulative weighted GPA of 4.0 or above.
  • No honor code violations.
  • Maintain semester grades of 80 or above.
  • Have no grade lower than a B in any subject.
  • Remain in AP, Dual Enrollment, and Honors courses as applicable.
  • Complete AP and/or Dual Enrollment courses by the end of senior year as applicable.
  • Students must register for and take their corresponding AP Exams.
  • Students must maintain their 4-year college counseling program.
  • Meet or exceed all service requirements and have at least 2 extra-curricular activities including athletics and clubs.
• Probation Allotment: If a student falls below any of the required criteria an opportunity to correct the situation at the discretion of the Administration on a case-by-case basis will be provided.

• He was an English theologian and poet who was first an Anglican priest and later converted to Roman Catholicism and served as a priest and cardinal. He was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church in 2019.

• At the request of the Irish Catholic bishops, Newman went to Dublin and served as a rector at the newly-established Catholic University of Ireland (now University College, Dublin).

• The Idea of the University was among his numerous publications, which explained his philosophy of education. His educational philosophy included a belief in a balance between free thinking and moral authority in which students would learn to respect the rights of knowledge and the rights of revelation.

• He sought to promote a university that could claim legitimacy globally through the support of research and publication, which would be free of church censorship. Simultaneously, the institution would serve as a safe place for the education of Catholic youth, where the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church would be respected and advanced.’

• Despite failing to establish a branch house of the Oratory at Oxford in 1858, a Catholic club was formed and later named the Oxford University Newman Society (est. in 1888) in recognition of Newman’s efforts on behalf of Catholicism in that university city, hence the Oxford Scholars Program.

• A highly competitive and integrated program of study that provides a well-rounded college preparatory education with the ability to engage in rigorous academic courses including AP, Dual Enrollment, and Honors courses

• Four-year scholarships may be awarded to recipients who qualify for the program.

• Facilitate the development of 21st-century leaders responding to our school’s mission seeking to be flexible and allow students to gain practical leadership skills and the opportunity to grow, resulting in cultural experiences and leadership opportunities such as leadership seminars and training outside of the traditional classroom settings.

• A full-time program director and dedicated faculty members who act as mentors and advisers to the scholars on an individual basis paired with a four-year college counseling program. Resume building, test-taking skills, essay writing, and college admission/application guidance will be the focus of these visits.

• An opportunity for freshmen to take advantage of an advanced placement course, with a second course applicable to sophomores.

• A culminating capstone presentation for each Oxford Scholar.

• A curriculum that prepares scholars to succeed in the most rigorous institutions of higher learning.

• Graduation recognition as well as the designation of an Oxford Scholar and identification of the program and its requirements on all college applications.