Faith Formation and Service
Sion continues the tradition of the founding sisters, the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion, inviting students to encounter God in a Catholic atmosphere that respects all faith traditions. Sion also prepares students for socially responsible, values based leadership in a culturally and religiously diverse world.
Sion’s Campus Ministry, Theology and Service Learning programs empower students to explore and develop their unique gifts, as they become confident faith-filled adults who bring about a more just and peaceful world. Teaching through a Catholic lens, which includes a respect for all faiths, prepares students to dialogue with people whose beliefs and experiences may differ from their own. Encountering God in prayer, scripture, art, nature, service and one another, deepens both our faith and our respect for all God’s creation. Knowing our individual gifts and understanding our shared humanity, inspires us to build a world of peace, justice and love.
Sion’s Catholic Identity
Catholicism permeates our prayer and our studies, especially through such values as the “dignity of the human person, the love that God has for each person in his/her uniqueness and for each people in its distinctiveness” (from the Constitution of the Congregation of Notre Dame de Sion 15.4).
- Monthly all-school liturgies, including Intergenerational Masses
- Weekly mass before school on Tuesdays, open to all in the Sion community
- Beginning the school day with student led prayer
- Class retreats, led by Campus Ministry and student leaders
- Kairos retreats, led by Campus Ministry and student leaders
- Lenten Reconciliation Service
- Quarterly Eucharistic Adoration
- Peer Ministry program in which students elect to be trained to guide the incoming freshmen through their first year at Sion
- 4 credits of Theology required for graduation, including Christian Scriptures and Catholic Social Teaching
- Affiliation agreements with both the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion and the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph
Sion’s Interfaith Mission
Our unique charism, handed down by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion, calls us to build respectful relationships with other Christian Churches and other religious traditions, especially with the Jewish people. As reflected in the Vatican II declaration, Nostra Aetate, we recognize among the various faiths, our common search for meaning and connection with the Holy. We respect what makes each faith unique, while using our common ground as a foundation for efforts towards peace.
- Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving prayer service, led by Campus Ministry and student leaders
- Weekly interfaith prayer to begin the school day
- Interfaith Club
- Introduction to Catholicism, Judaism and Islam in the Rooted in Sion Theology course
- Hebrew Scriptures Theology course
- World Religions Theology elective
- Field trips to various temples, synagogues, mosques and churches
Campus Ministry
Campus ministry in an all-girl, independent Catholic high school is ministry to, with, for and by the students. With the charism of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame de Sion as our guide, we seek to offer liturgies, retreats, a peer ministry program, and more as opportunities for building strong networks of support within the community and growing in right relationship with God.
In the spirit of synodality led by Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV through the global Synod, our campus ministry seeks to express a spirituality of journeying together. This essence of synodality creates space among all the people of God to dialogue, encounter, listen, discern, pray, and walk together, continuously meeting the current needs of one another. Our times of communal prayer, gathering, formation, fellowship, and ministering to others stand as a foundation for building a world of justice, peace and love.
| Peer Ministry |
| Each first-year Sion student is introduced to a group of seniors who serve as Peer Ministers. Their job is to guide students through their first year with kindness and compassion. Regular meetings with them include tips and conversations about balancing studies, extracurricular activities, family, friends and faith. |
| Class Masses and Prayer Services |
| Each class gathers together once a year in the chapel for Mass and another time for a prayer service. These prayer opportunities offer students a time to pray in a smaller, intimate, sacred space with their classmates. |
| Class Rosaries |
| The month of October is known as Rosary Month in the Catholic Church. Praying the rosary is a very familiar and devotional practice for many Catholics. During this month students are invited to pray the rosary with classmates in the chapel. |
| Class Retreats |
| Class retreats offer students an opportunity to take a step back from the busyness of life with their classmates to bond, build connections, and explore their creativity, strengths, and spirituality in various ways for holistic wellness. Retreats take place in spaces like the Zoo, Powell Gardens, TimberRidge Adventure Center, and more that offer outdoor interactive activities and spaces for learning, reflection, and prayer. |
| Tuesday Morning Masses and Prayer |
| Every Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. we have Mass or morning prayer in the chapel before school. On the weeks when we have an All School Mass, we have a morning prayer service. These services are based on a morning prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours which is a long-standing prayer tradition in the Catholic Church, most often prayed throughout the day in monasteries. These morning prayers give students the opportunity to offer a reflection and meditate on the scripture as well as the sung and spoken prayers. Students have done an incredible job leading these morning prayers! |
| Chorale de Joie |
| Typically our all school Masses are led musically by our Symphonie de Sion, Grand Choeur, and Petit Choeur de Sion. The Chorale de Joie is a choir formed of students, faculty, and staff who may or may not be a part of these ensembles and would like the opportunity to lead prayerful music at Mass and/or a prayer opportunity. The Chorale de Joie will lead music once each semester! |
| Saint Phoebe Day Celebration |
| In the Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul commends Phoebe to the church in Rome, introduces her as a deacon (diakonos) of the church at Cenchreae, and asks that they “receive her in the Lord” (Romans 16:1-2). September 3rd is the Feast of Saint Phoebe and we came together in prayer with Catholic communities around the world honoring women’s gifts to the Church. A student leads a beautiful reflection on Saint Phoebe and women in ministry and leadership during a Tuesday Mass! |
Sion’s Service Learning Program
Sion students work to identify how they are called to share their gifts and passions in a way that meets the world’s needs, culminating in their Senior Service Projects. We recognize our individual and collective responsibility to respond to suffering in the world with both charity and justice, knowledge and compassion.
- Grade level service projects during August orientation activities
- Freshman Day of Service
- Student-driven and led projects throughout the year such as Student Council’s Food for Thought Food Drive, National Honor Society’s Blood Drive, Designing Real World Impact projects, Lemon Club’s fundraiser for childhood cancer research, etc.
- 100 hours of service required for graduation
- After school service opportunities
- Service trip to Guatemala
- Service is also included in many of the other Deep Dives
- Senior Service Projects are 25 or more hours of service and leadership focused on a particular issue or nonprofit chosen by the student
- Typically, over 10% of the student body earns the President’s Volunteer Service Award for completing 100 or more volunteer hours in a single year.
