Traditions

List of 11 items.

• A Pinecrest Christmas

  This Christmas season event invites our families and friends to enjoy preparations for the birth of Christ through music and visual arts. The event showcases the artistic talents of our Lower, Middle, and High School students. The program begins with Christmas songs and hymns, followed by an art show and reception.

• Angel Parade

  The Angel Parade is a favorite Pinecrest tradition, dating back to our first year, 1993! It commemorates the Feast of the Guardian Angels, and always brings smiles. Our PreK and Kindergarten children dress as a favorite angel and parade around the Lower School Courtyard to the sound of beautiful “angel-inspired” music.

• Blessing of the Crucifixes

  Children bring in crucifixes, crosses or other similar items that our school chaplains bless.

• Catholic Schools Week

  National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. The event begins the last Sunday in January each year and runs all week. Pinecrest Academy observes the annual celebration with events that focus on the value that Catholic education provides to young people, and its contributions to our Church, our communities, and our nation.

• Field Days

  Since our founding, a special end-of-year celebration of games, sunshine, and fun is held called Field Day. Separate Field Days are held specifically for PreK students, Lower School students, and Middle School students. Students are divided into teams that represent the four countries of Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Ireland. These countries are the original locations of where the Legion of Christ had school systems. 

• Founders Day

  During this important annual event, alumni, families, faculty, staff, and the entire student body come together to celebrate the founding of the school, our founding families, and each other. An all school Mass is celebrated every year on this special occasion.

• Grandparents Day

  Grandparents Day is a day set aside each fall, during which we honor these very special people in our students’ lives. The day begins with an All School Mass and follows with refreshments, classroom visits, and the opportunity for our families, comprised of several generations, to spend quality time together.

• Kindergarten Circus

  A beloved tradition at Pinecrest Academy, this mini circus is a lively performance which has taken place each spring since 1993. Students are transformed into lions, tigers, clowns, dancers, gymnasts, and ringmasters, and then take the stage to perform live in front of parents, grandparents, siblings, students, faculty, and staff. Kindergartners have fun performing circus acts together, without realizing they are actually learning several important life skills.

• May Crownings

  May is considered the month of Mary, our Blessed Mother. On the first Friday in May, an all school Mass is celebrated in Mary’s honor. Following Mass, each school participates in a traditional Crowning of Mary, by crowning her statues at different sites on campus. Students are specially selected for the honor of crowning each school’s statue, and all students are encouraged to bring a flower to lay in front of the Blessed Mother. This activity is a beautiful moment when we pause to honor Our Lady with flowers and songs, to thank her for all her love, protection and graces. 

• Saints Parade

  The Saints Parade is another beloved tradition that has been around since our beginnings. First and second graders dress as their favorite saints and march around the Lower School Courtyard or Gym to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” This event happens each year on Halloween (All Hallow's Eve), to usher in All Saints Day on November 1.

• Semper Altius Award

  This award is the most prestigious award a student in grades 3-11 can receive. The Semper Altius Award is granted to the students in each grade who demonstrate outstanding commitment to the ideals of the school by excelling in all areas of Integral Formation: spiritual, human, intellectual, and apostolic.