Yes! Our classrooms are full of bright, creative, outside-the-box thinkers who need opportunities to use all the beautiful parts of their brains. Our campus locations aren’t big or grand, but we maximize all opportunities for enrichment during the school day including:
- Field trips
- Top-notch visual arts program
- American Sign Language class
- Daily technology class for grades 5-8
- PE and recess EVERY day
- Guest speakers (paleontologists, entrepreneurs, meteorologists, self-defense experts, etc)
We have special events throughout the year, too!
- Afternoon of the Arts
- Trunk or Treat
- Candy Cane Lane
- Lunch Buddies
- Field Day
- Awards Assemblies
At this time, we do not offer transportation. Because we have students from across the Tampa Bay area, we have many families who carpool. dePaul is not the school most families plan to attend and for most families, it is not a neighborhood school. Most students have siblings who do not attend dePaul, so it’s a juggling act, for sure. Because our families share this struggle, they are very willing to help each other do what it takes to get the kids here.
The standardized testing that occurs at The dePaul School has two purposes:
1. To give families an idea of their child’s current academic levels
2. To determine how much a child is growing
Most of our students come to us with negative feelings about test-taking, so when we do test, we keep things very low stress. We do NOT teach to tests. Assessments are a snapshot of a child’s learning. They give information about a child’s strengths and areas of need so we know how to place them in the right classes and help them grow in the most efficient and effective ways.
Every student is different. Some stay at dePaul for a few years and then transition to another school. Other families choose for their child to stay at The dePaul School through 8th grade. Eventually, your child will move to a different school and our staff is here to work with each family as they consider the progress of their child and make important decisions about the future.
- Our goal is to prepare your child to return to mainstream school as soon as they are ready.
- The average student spends 3 years at dePaul.
- There is a slightly higher percentage of families who choose to attend another private school after dePaul, though we have many alumni who successfully transition to public schools.
While there are a few days that differ, we generally follow the Pinellas County Schools calendar. (Click here to link to our school calendar.) We also follow Pinellas County for school closures due to weather. Student drop-off begins at 7:40 am, and the school day begins promptly at 8:00 am.
Dismissal:
Traditional campus carline starts at 2:50.
Delta campus carline starts at 3:00.