Alytus st. Benedict’s Gymnasium

School's philosophy and mission

Philosophy

The idea of St. Benedict’s gymnasium is a ship sailing in the ocean of life with its steersman and guide St. Benedict ahead. St. Benedict is a teacher who teaches us in his life where true values are: respect for order and work, human dignity and freedom, tolerance and compassion. We believe that every member of our community can achieve his personal excellence if we develop the personality comprehensively and seek for physical, mental, spiritual, social and emotional maturity. In our daily school life we follow St. Benedict’s teaching, with the motto Ora et Labora (Pray and Work).

Mission

Alytus st. Benedict’s Gymnasium aims to provide primary, lower and upper secondary education that meets high quality standards, to motivate the versatile development of all members of the school community by fostering Christian and common human values to develop independent personalities who employs their best features to serve public well-being.

About school

Alytus St. Benedict’s Gymnasium is a modern educational institution that implements primary, lower-secondary and secondary education. There are 33 forms with 799 students and 83 educators at our gymnasium.

The Long Gymnasium is open to constant changes, promotes the possibility for full development of the community members, fosters Christian and human values, develops an independent personality and serves the public well-being.

The gymnasium focuses on pastoral activities for which the Religious Education Team is responsible. Special attention is paid to the development of Christian values, the spiritual growth of students and other community members as a whole, to the promotion of cooperation, independence, initiative, creativity, citizenship and pursuing national values. School’s community is a member of the National Association of Catholic Schools (NACS) and participates actively in the events held by the association.

Educational environment in the gymnasium meets the needs of gifted and talented children and fosters their development. On the national scale the achievements of pupils from grades 1 to 8 exceed the average in Lithuania. The results of PUPP in Lithuanian language is 6.43 (it is 2.7 percent above the Lithuanian and 1.6 percent above Alytus’ average), the results in mathematics is 6.63 ( it is almost 40 percent higher than the Lithuanian and 42.6 percent than Alytus’ average). These are the highest results in Alytus city. VBE results show that our gymnasium is among Lithuanian top gymnasiums according to the national ratings. The results of six subjects have been included in the national ratings that made the gymnasium one of the top fifty gymnasiums in Lithuania.

There are 46 non-formal educational clubs in the gymnasium to satisfy the students’ needs for arts, sports, healthy lifestyles. A wide range of subject modules in secondary education is also available. Since 2017 Integrated Science Education has been implemented in the grades from 5 to 8. Science teachers participate in the MES and UPC project which aims to develop an integrated science program for Lithuanian schools. Gymnasium is well-equipped with educational facilities. Pupils use the 3D class, 3D printer, a science laboratory equipment and interactive Funtronic floor for educational purposes. Great attention is paid to physical education. The gymnasium is proud of its swimming pool where lessons and non-formal education classes take place. The building is constructed to provide accessibility for the disabled students.

The Gymnasium has founded the School of Young Mathematicians, attended by students of all Alytus’ educational institutions. Since 2017 VGTU class has been carrying joint activities with a number of higher educational institutions (VGTU, VU, VMUŽA, VDUŠA) and Alytus College. In 2018 All Day School (VMM) was opened in the gymnasium, which educates pupils after classes. Since 2018 Olweus Bullying Prevention Program has been underway. Our ambition is that the values declared in the program – empathy, security, help, understanding, respect – are to become the values of each community member.

The Gymnasium cooperates with the Lithuanian Children’s School in Monaghan, Ireland, and the Ukrainian Kremenchuk City Education Institutions. A student exchange project „Language and History“ has been implemented together with Ulricianum Gymnasium, Germany (Aurich) since 2011. The aim of the project is to teach the participants culture, traditions and customs of both countries, to develop students’ communication, cooperation and German language skills.

Since 2017 two projects funded by ESFA – „I Make Lessons and My Future Myself“ and „KUBAS“ have been successfully implemented in the gymnasium. In the project „I Make Lessons and My Future Myself“, teachers learn how to organize the process of learning, involve the pupils to improve their learning competences and personal progress. In the project KUBAS gymnasium consults two Lithuanian schools – Lazdijai Motiejus Gustaitis and Kaunas District Rokai Gymnasium. The gymnasium also participates in the Erasmus + project „Mathematics for Millions“, during which the gymnasium administration and teachers raise their qualifications together with the teachers from six EU countries. Primary school teachers develop and test new techniques to improve students’ mathematics skills.

Middle Years Programme

Alytus st. Benedict’s Gymnasium is a Candidate School* for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP). This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Alytus st. Benedict’s Gymnasium believes is important for our students. 

*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme, or the Career-related Programme (CP).  Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit http://www.ibo.org

The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) emphasizes intellectual challenge. The MYP aims to develop active learners and internationally minded young people aged 11 to 16 who can empathize with others and pursue lives of purpose and meaning.

The MYP organizes teaching and learning through eight subject groups. The programme promotes interdisciplinary study that helps students make important connections between academic subjects. MYP students also complete a long-term projects (The Community Project, The Personal Project), where they decide what they want to learn about, identify what they already know, discovering what they will need to know to complete the project, and create a proposal or criteria for completing it. The programme empowers students to inquire into a wide range of issues and ideas of significance locally, nationally and globally. The result is young people who are creative, critical and reflective thinkers.

MYP programme coordinator Evelina Zukauskiene

Diploma Programme

The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) is an assessed programme for students aged 16 to 19. It is respected by leading universities across the globe.

Through the DP, schools are able to develop students who:

• have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge;
• flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically;
• study at least two languages;
• excel in traditional academic subjects;
• explore the nature of knowledge through the programme’s unique theory of knowledge course.

DP programme coordinator Giedre Kalinauskiene