English Español Mary Immaculate
Catholic Church / Pacoima, CA

Elementary Religious Education

Offered Programs

  • Elementary Catechesis: attended by your children.
  • Sacramental Catechesis: attended by parents at the same time as their children.
  • Post Communion: attended by children who have received their First Communion. (Optional)

For up-to-date news and information, please visit our Religious Education website.

Elementary Catechesis (Two years)

The first year (Year A), is based on the formation of the Basic Religious Education of your child with their catechists to be carried out in the classrooms of the parish school. The second year (Year B) will be continuation of their formation with their catechists while preparing to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion at home with their parents. Children attend classes once a week and will be given as always their book, which cost is included in the registration fee.

Sacramental Catechesis for Parents of Year 2 (Year B)

Parents will attend, at the same time their children are in class, to a class once a week, which they will impart the information to their children at home at the time and place available to them.

Post Communion

For children who have received their First Communion, and are in grades 4, 5 and 6 at school. Offered in Tuesdays in English only. Registration fee is $30.00 per year.

REQUIREMENTS

AGE/GRADE
Must be 7 years old and enrolled in the second grade of school, until age 11.

LANGUAGE
Choose the language that your children need and is convenient for them. The books for the children are in English. Remember that the language you choose to enroll your child(ren) will be the language of the Mass for their First Communion.

CATECHISM DAYS
Monday: 6:00pm – 8:00pm (spanish)
Tuesday: 6:00pm – 8:00pm (english)
Saturday: 9:00am – 11:00am (spanish and english)

NOTE: The day that you choose for your child to attend the catechism shall be final, NO changes can be made. There will be a fee of $10.00 for either the time change, or change of day. Review your schedule and your availability before signing up for the program.

REGISTRATION
Copy of the Certificate of Baptism, language preference for your child, day your child will attend, address and telephone number. Please notify the office of any changes to your information. If your child has difficulty with vision, hearing, language or learning or is under a special medical treatment, please ensure that this information be discussed at the time of their registration (emergency card).

CHOCOLATE AND FAIR TICKETS
All families will participate in events to raise funds for the program which will be carried out during the year, as the sale of chocolates and raffle tickets for the St Jude Fiesta, so the program may keep its low fees.

FEES
Payment due at time of enrolment for your child per family:

  • $80 for one child
  • $120 for two children
  • $150 for three children
  • $30 for each additional child

For children who will receive their First Communion (Year B) we ask for a fee of $30 to cover expenses of, the certificate, photo of the First Communion, and decoration of the Church. The registration fee needs to be paid in full the day of the registration. There will be a charge
of $35.00 for any bounced checks. Please keep your receipts; we can ask for them at any time. You will have to pay again, if there is no proof of payment. If before the classes begin, the child cannot attend the program for any reason, only 50% of the registration will be refunded. If the child begins the program there will be no refund. All people who register in our program need to be registered in the parish, those who come from other parishes will be charged $10.00 on the fee of registration. You can register in the Parish at the same time you register with our program.

MONTHLY MASS
Parents need to attend all the celebrations that the program assigns to them: For example; the Mass for children. The dates and times will be on your calendar.

HOURS OF SERVICE (mandatory)
In both years of preparation, parents need to complete 5 hours of service, per family. Those who do not complete their hours will be charged $5.00 per hour not completed.

RETREATS
Children of the second year (Year B) will attend two retreats: One of Reconciliation and the other of Eucharist and the parents will attend a retreat and conference. The parent conference will be held in a two year cycle ½ year on Forgiveness and another ½ year on the Eucharist.

PRAYERS
It is the duty of the parents to teach the prayers to their child in the first year (Year A). Such as: blessing themselves, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Act of Contrition, Creed, The Ten Commandments, The Seven Sacraments and explaining the truths of the Catholic Faith. *It will be a requirement to know the prayers before going into the second year (Year B).

SCHEDULE
The child needs to arrive 10 minutes before their class starts and have to be picked up no later than 10 minutes after the class has ended. After that time the Program is not responsible for your child. –It is not allowed to leave your child in the parking lot- All parents must leave their children in the auditorium. If the child is walking home alone, we require the written consent from both parents.

ABSENCES
If your child, arrives more than 10 minutes late he/she will be marked absent, but their absence can be justified if you call the office before hand and if the reason is justifiable (3 tardiness will count as one absence). If you have more than 3 absences without justification, you will lose your place in the class and your child will be removed from the program.

PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs will be taken in the Program in events for the exclusive use of the Parish, with no-profit, they will be kept confidentially. However, we require the permission of you parents, for publication, since it is a right that only you have.

MEETING PLACE
The meeting place before your child’s class will be in the Auditorium, but if for some reason it is not available, we will notify you and students will go directly to their classroom. It is important that you personally accompany your child, as we will give the announcements for the week and you should be aware of them. Your presence is necessary because it will give security and confidence to your child.

EMERGENCY CARD
If there’s an earthquake or any other natural disaster, we will withhold the children in school and they will only be released to a parent, guardian or another person authorized by you at the time of registration. You will also need to sign an authorization in the Emergency Card to provide medical treatment for your child if necessary. The Religious Education office will not be responsible for paying any medical services due to incidents within the property.

SCHOOL INSURANCE
The program has student insurance, but it only covers minor accidents, no hospitalization.

MONTHLY MEETINGS
Parents of the first year (Year A) need to attend a monthly formation meeting. You may attend the meeting that’s convenient and in your preferred language, regardless of the language you’re your child is attending.

ANNOUCEMENTS
Please be alert of the announcements that will be delivered via your child. For each extra copy requested at the office, we ask for a donation of .50 cents as to not waste paper. For your convenience we will send the messages in both Spanish and English (bilingual).

PERSONAL E-MAIL
We ask you to provide us with an email which we will use to send the notices of events each month it doesn’t need not be yours, it may be your child’s. The e-mail of the Religious Education Program is as follows: catechism@maryimmaculateparish.org.

SCHEDULING OF EVENTS
The schedule will be given to your child on the 1st day of class. In August: the schedule from August to December; and in January: the schedule from January to May, with all the activities during the year. It is very important that you remember the name of your child’s Catechist and the room number, for when you come pick him/her up.

FIRST COMMUNION
Girls Dress Code: white (simple) dress below the knee or at the ankle, the ornament of the head simple, NO crinoline and NO gloves.
Boys Dress Code: white sleeved shirt long or short, Pants; black, navy or Oxford gray, tie and jacket are optional.

GODPARENTS
The children may have one Godmother if they’re a girl or one Godfather if they’re a boy. They will not sit with their godson/goddaughter on the day of the mass. The sponsors will be responsible for bringing the Bible, the candle and the rosary and after being blessed by the priest they will hand them over to their godson/goddaughter.

IT IS NOT PERMITED to take pictures during the ceremony.
The First Communion certificates and photos will be ready two weeks after the date they received the Holy Sacrament. We will keep them for three months, after that they will be eliminated and you will have to go to the Parish Office to pay $5.00 for a copy. If you want to change the date of the First Communion you will have to notify the office before the Holy week holiday. No changes can be made later on. The charge is $10 for the change of day.

CATECHISTS
We remind you that all catechists are volunteers who donate their time generously. Be grateful to them because they watch not only with love for the safety of your child, but also for their religious upbringing and values. Each month we will have a monthly meeting with the catechists, so the program can serve you better, on this day the class will start ½ hour earlier.

WE HOPE TO HAVE WITH YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT A NEW YEAR FULL OF BLESSINGS

Catechism classes begin on Monday 13, Tuesday 14 or Saturday 18 of August depending on the day you register your child. Please arrive 10 minutes before class begins.

For more information about these programs contact us at (818) 899-2111.

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