Religious Studies

Religion classes at Forest Ridge are guided by all five of the goals of Sacred Heart education: a personal and active faith in God, a deep respect for intellectual values, a social awareness that impels to action, the building of community as a Christian value, and personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom. These classes blend academic study, spiritual practice, service, and the arts as we support our students in growing their relationships with themselves, with God, and with others in their communities.

We are committed to creating safe and welcoming environments for all of our students, where students of all faiths can learn about religion and deepen their personal spirituality. As a Catholic school, we teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the history, traditions, and spirituality of the global Catholic Church, and we also teach about the many faiths and belief systems in our world. We explore the role of religion in history and current events, and we challenge students to develop ethical thinking, discernment, and a practice of service to others. Religion classes meet each student where they are and emphasize what it means to be a Child of the Sacred Heart.

As a Catholic, Independent, Sacred Heart school, we have many streams of tradition that we draw from in our courses. In Religion, these include the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart education, the principles of religious literacy from the American Academy of Religion, and the frameworks for Catholic education from the Archdiocese of Seattle.

Middle School: 5^th-8^th Grade

Grade Five

Developing a Personal and Active Faith in God

Year-long / Required

The fifth-grade Religion program is rooted in Goal One of Sacred Heart education: to educate to a personal and active faith in God. Students explore their images of God and discover how their ideas of God are similar regardless of their faith traditions. They examine how God is revealed to people, including through the creation of the world and through the life and teachings of Jesus. They also learn the history of the Society of the Sacred Heart and deepen their understanding of the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart education. Students learn about foundational beliefs of the Catholic faith, and they are encouraged to consider how their beliefs affect the moral decisions they make each day. Through the study of the sacraments, the Liturgy of the Mass and prayer, students learn how Catholics celebrate the continuing presence of God in their lives. They read scripture, experience community prayer and reflection activities, and celebrate the liturgical seasons and feasts of the church. Through individual and group activities, students are encouraged to grow in their understanding of their relationships with God and with one another.

Prerequisite: None
Grade level: 5
Credit earned: 1.0 MS Religion

Grade Six

Exploring World Religions and Hebrew Scripture

Year-long / Required

The first goal of a Sacred Heart education is to educate to a personal and active faith in God. Students begin the year by exploring the nature of religion in general. Students learn what it means to be a Child of the Sacred Heart and to be a part of a community steeped in the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with an emphasis on prayer, feast days, and Sacred Heart heritage. Forest Ridge is a rich and diverse faith community, and students are invited to celebrate their own faith traditions and be welcomed into the celebration of Catholic traditions. Exploring the Bible and how Catholics read the Bible, with an emphasis on Hebrew Scriptures, is an important element of sixth-grade religion. Students also learn about the origins, beliefs, and practices of the major world religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. In conjunction with their spring experiential leadership trip to Camp Orkila, students reflect on stewardship of creation. Classroom resources include the Breakthrough Bible, and How Do You Spell God?

Prerequisite: None
Grade level: 6
Credit earned: 1.0 MS Religion

Grade Seven

Exploring the Person of Jesus, the Christ

Year-long / Required

The seventh-grade religion course explores the person of Jesus as encountered through the Gospels. Students learn about the historical context into which he was born and use this information to dig more deeply into his parables and gain a deeper understanding of Jesus’s mission and deep love for the people who are most vulnerable in society. They begin exploring pertinent themes in their own lives, including service and resurrection. Through the Gospels and personal reflection, students come to understand the attitudes of the heart of Jesus (generosity, compassion, respect, and forgiveness) expressed in Goal One of a Sacred Heart Education. The course also examines the concept of kinship. Students learn about people who, like Jesus, seek to create authentic and compassionate relationships with those historically on the margins of society. In class throughout the year, students will notice an emphasis on written reflection, class participation, clear and respectful communication, small group discussion, and project-based learning.

Prerequisite: None
Grade level: 7
Credit earned: 1.0 MS Religion

Grade Eight

Catholic Social Teaching & Living Goal 3 of a Sacred Heart Education

Year-long / Required

The eighth-grade religion program is rooted in Goals One and Three of a Sacred Heart education: to educate to a personal and active faith in God, as well as a social awareness which impels to action. In the first semester, students develop an understanding of creeds by definition and explore a variety of creeds, completing an illustration and written exercise expressing their own creed and/or faith traditions. Throughout the year, students also continue to develop a deeper understanding of Catholic beliefs and practices.

In the second semester, students learn about Catholic Social Teaching and related topics, such as the dignity of the human person, poverty, homelessness, rights of workers and global issues. When opportunities for community service are available, students participate in a service program within the larger Seattle/Bellevue community. Students spend time reflecting on their service experience in order to understand it in the broader context of what they are learning in the classroom.

Prerequisite: None
Grade level: 8
Credit earned: 1.0 MS Religion

Upper School: 9^th-12^th Grade

Graduation requirement: 8 bins, including at least one Spirituality course and at least one Theology & Justice course in 11^th and 12^th grade.

Exploring Global Cultures (Required in 9th Grade)

Exploring Global Cultures

Required in 9th Grade/ Note: this is an interdisciplinary class that meets during all 6 mods.

This integrated course fulfills both the social studies and Religion requirements for the 9th grade year. Religion and social studies content is fully integrated in all units, which are organized around the themes of colonization, health care, climate change, education, nationalism, and conflict and peace building. Students study world religions as a key component of understanding our global world and developing greater perspective-taking. Skills developed include geography, textual analysis and interpretation, inquiry, discussion, research and writing, and personal reflection. Students engage in case studies, seminar discussions, creative and real-world writing assignments, and Model UN. All 9^th grade students take this class together, making it a formative part of the Forest Ridge 9^th grade experience.

Prerequisite: None

Grade level: 9

Credit earned: 3 bins Social Studies and 2 bins Religion

Jewish & Christian Scriptures (Required in 10th Grade)

Jewish & Christian Scriptures

Required for 10^th graders and students who transfer into Forest Ridge in 11^th or 12^th grade

Sophomore year is rooted in Goal Four of Sacred Heart education: the building of community as a Christian value. Sophomore year begins with an intimate study of Hebrew Scriptures as the founding experience and narrative of Christian values and community inherited through the Jewish context of its most influential members: Jesus, the Apostles, and Paul. With the Incarnation and the Trinity as the central focus, students will examine the earliest communal attempts at living out the teachings of Jesus. With a foundation in the beliefs, challenges, and models of the earliest Christian Church communities, students will analyze the past and contemporary life of the Catholic Church to identify the ways in which the teachings and Paschal Mystery of Christ is lived and proclaimed. Students will explore the dynamic and diverse nature of humanity, encounter the ways this same nature shapes Christian communities, and face the current realities and impacts of people who gather as communities founded by Jesus. This course is required for all sophomores and students who transfer into Forest Ridge in grades 11 and 12.

Prerequisite: Exploring Global Cultures or Religious Literacy Canvas Module

Grade level: 10

Credit earned: 2 bins Religion

Liberation Theologies (Required in 11th Grade)

Liberation Theologies

Required in 11th Grade

The God of the Bible is a God who liberates from oppression, and working for liberation is at the heart of Christian discipleship. This is the central claim of Christian liberation theologies. In this course, students will read and analyze key texts of Latin American liberation, Black liberation, feminist, and womanist theologies. They will study the historical conditions that gave rise to liberation theologies in Latin America and the United States in the twentieth century. They will evaluate the complicated relationship between liberation theologies and classical Christian theology. And they will evaluate the relationships between different kinds of liberation theologies—their connections, their controversies, and their criticisms of one another. Please note that this is a philosophy and theology heavy course in which students will practice skills in close reading and argument analysis.

Prerequisite: Jewish & Christian Scriptures

Grade level: 11, 12

Credit earned: 1 bin religion

Sacred Art

Spirituality: Sacred Heart

Many of the greatest masterpieces known to humankind were created out of a desire to understand, celebrate, and share an understanding or connection to the divine. During this course, students will both study the various eras of Christian art (Early Christian, Celtic, Baroque, etc.), as well as produce their own piece of art for each unit. We will focus on themes such as art as sacramentals, sacred space and architecture, as well as sacred symbolism seen throughout history. Students may earn credit for either a Fine Arts or Religion class.