St. Rose of Lima, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Josephine Bakhita and St. Francis of Assist have become special to the students of Columbus All Saints Academy. Those are the names of the multi-grade student groups that are part of the House system the school began using last year.
Each house spends time worshiping together, planning and completing service projects, learning about their house saint and other saints, and about scripture and each other.
The system began last year with fifth through eighth grade students. Because of its success last year, the school decided to expand the system to include all students for the 2025-2026 school year.
Kindergarten students are in the Kinder house and first through fourth grades are in the Junior Pillar house. All houses and activities are based on our four school pillars of Kindness, Honesty, Respect and Service. The virtues of faith, hope, love, temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice are incorporated into all house work and into the school community.
Each house has staff and faculty leaders who help facilitate the activities and lessons. The Junior Pillar house will be choosing a saint this year. The third and fourth graders are house buddies to first and second graders, and ambassadors from upper grades are buddies for the Kinder house.
Incorporating Catholic Identity and building a culture of faith are among the goals for the house system.
“We incorporate our Catholic identity by showing love and the face of Jesus to each other and the students which helps encourage all of us to remain strong in our faith,” said Mrs. Elizabeth Hessler, the St. Rose house leader.
Asked about the virtues, eighth grader Isaac Botello said, “I want to work on fortitude because I struggle sometimes to keep going when things get really hard, but remembering how Jesus kept carrying that cross made me want to practice this virtue more and get stronger.”
Students have embraced the service component of the program.
“My favorite part is to help in the community and to experience diversity in the classroom with the different grades,” Trent Johnson of St. Josephine Bakhita House said.
Some of the community service activities included making and delivering blankets to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and helping at the Bishop Griffin Resource Center on the east side of Columbus.
“We can’t wait to see what acts of kindness and service we achieve this year,” All Saints principal Laura Miller said. “We are excited for the new year and we look forward to seeing the Holy Spirit working through our staff and students at All Saints Academy.
“It has been a wonderful addition to our school culture and to see the kids alive and growing in their faith is exciting. I can’t wait to see these kids change the world with what they are learning with our House activities. Thanks to the House system, we are on fire with the Lord and can’t wait to grow in the virtues and pillars.”
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