Religious Education Registration

TUITION & FEE INFORMATION - YR2024-2025

  *******IMPORTANT NOTICE: St. Ann's 2nd and 4th grade Class is at Capacity.

As of 9/20/24 Grades 2 & 4 are open for enrollment at St. Zepherin only.*******

To register for our Religious Education Program, please click this link.

Total Tuition & Fees can be paid online at the end of the registration process or by check (write name of child/ren in the memo section) .

Send check payment to: 

Good Shepherd Parish 

Religious Education Office

99 Main Street 

Wayland, MA 01778

Full or partial Scholarship Funds are available for all Catechists in addition to those families unable to afford Religious Education fees.

Please email Liliana Lucas if you would like to apply for use of those funds.

  Regular Tuition Fee                                                   

• One student $150                               
• Two students $225                             
• Three of more students $275

***Tuition does not include sacrament prep fee***

Additional Fees

 * First Communion Preparation-$25 per student*

                                                            * Confirmation Preparation- $150 per student*                                                               

Interested in volunteering for K-12 Religious Education Program? Click HERE to learn more.

As of 8/27, we still need:

St. Ann site: 2 Lead Catechists, 4 Assistant Catechists and 3 Substitutes

St. Zepherin site: 1 Lead Catechist, 2 Assistant Catechists & 6 Substitutes

IMPORTANT: All Parish Volunteers must complete & return the FY2025 Child's Safety Packet. Thank you!

Program Description

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and decisive direction. - (Pope Benedict XVI, “God is Love”)

The Faith Formation program at Good Shepherd is designed to introduce its participants to encounter Jesus, then to develop and deepen that encounter continuously over the course of the program so that it can be sustained throughout their life. Through personal prayer, communal worship, service projects, and engagement with the teachings of the Catholic Faith, Students learn to form a living relationship with Jesus Christ and with His Church, and they discover more profoundly what a relationship with God means.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. As such, weekly attendance at the Sunday Mass is the single most important thing we do as Catholics. At Mass we are reminded of our identity, through the sacred scriptures, and as we receive Christ’s very Self in the mystery of the sacrament of the Eucharist. With this in mind, we’ve incorporated Mass attendance as a fundamental component of our Faith Formation program this year.

ELEMENTARY PROGRAM (K-5 grade)

We offer Sunday Religious Education classes for students in grades K-5 at both campuses, St. Ann, and St. Zepherin. The Classes are held for one hour by volunteer catechists. The lessons are developed to motivate students to learn about our Catholic faith in an environment that is nurturing and inspiring. As a family-centered program there are parent and student engagement requirements, please review.

Family engagement requirements

• Mass attendance.
• Family participation at one mass (Greeter, passing gifts, lector, hospitality*, etc.).

*Hospitality (host light refreshments on one Sunday, after Mass or before Mass). Families will host light refreshments for the children in the break period.   Please be sensitive to the one hour fast for food before Mass for those who will receive Communion.

• Parent assistance for one class (help a Catechist, prep materials, sit in a class as a helper).

Contact Debora S. Robertson for more information or for details about parent and student participation. 

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM (6-8 grade)

The Archdioceses is in the process of changing the age of confirmation to a standard of 13 years of age. As a result, 7^th and 8^th graders will be confirmed together in 2026.

6th grade classes take place on Tuesdays at 6.45pm – 8.00pm at St Ann’s in the Fall and Spring. During winter months 6th graders are invited to L.I.F.E nights with Mass and Youth Ministry activities from 5.30pm to 7pm at St. Zepherin. See Calendar for 7^th & 8^th grade L.I.F.E nights.

Students entering 7th and 8th grade classes in Fall 2024 are scheduled to be Confirmed in the Spring 2026. Classes and Youth ministry take place after Mass on Sunday evenings at St. Zepherin in November, December and January.

As a family-centered program there are parent and student engagement requirements, please review.

Family engagement requirements

• Mass attendance.            
• Family participation at one mass (greeter, passing gifts, lector, hospitality*, etc.).

*Hospitality (host light refreshments on one Sunday, after Mass or before Mass). Families will host light refreshments for the children in the break period.   Please be sensitive to the one hour fast for food before Mass for those who will receive Communion.

• Parent assistance for one class (help a Catechist, prep materials, sit in a class as a helper).
• Participation in the Donelan’s collection for My Brother’s table (once/year).

Contact Deacon Colm for more information or for details about parent and student participation.

HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM (9-10 grade). Learn more about the RCIA program HERE.

The Archdioceses are in the process of changing the age of confirmation to a standard of 13 years of age. As a result, 9^th and 10^th graders will be confirmed together in 2025.

Confirmation 1 is for students in 9th grade (or above) who have successfully completed the program at the lower grades. Students attend Sunday mass at 5.30pm and participate in a 6-week block of classes in the Fall and Spring 12 classes total. Mass begins at 5.30pm and Students can expect to leave by 8pm. There will be one overnight retreat, for the 9th and 10^th graders on Friday, the 8^th through Saturday the 9^th of November.  

For upper classmen in high school who are seeking confirmation may want to consider RCIA option. Call or email Father Ren. Click here to learn more about the RCIA program. https://www.goodshepherdwayland.org/ongoing-adult-education ( add a hipper link to the tab menu under ongoing adult education.)

Confirmation 2 students have completed confirmation 1 and attend six classes in the fall as well as a weekend retreat.

Confirmation 1 and 2 Students will be confirmed in May 2025.

In addition to classes, students are to earn 35 "building blocks" by attending a range of events with the parish. This can include summer trips, Bible study, or service with the parish. An hourlong event equals 5 building blocks. The idea is to show students a range of ways to live out their faith outside of a classroom setting.

As a family-centered program there are parent and student engagement requirements, please review.

Family engagement requirements

• Mass attendance.
• Family participation at one mass (greeter, passing gifts, lector, hospitality*, etc.).

*Hospitality (host light refreshments on one Sunday, after Mass or before Mass). Families will host light refreshments for the children in the break period.   Please be sensitive to the one hour fast for food before Mass for those who will receive Communion.

• Parent assistance for one class (help a Catechist, prep materials, sit in a class as a helper).

Contact Deacon Colm for more information or for details about parent and student participation.

Free will donations to our Religious Education Programs have been of tremendous assistance over the years. If possible, please consider making a donation that will go directly to supporting the religious education of the children and youth of our parish.

Donations to the Religious Education Program are tax deductible.
Registration Fees are not tax deductible.

New Families - Important Notice

If any of your children were baptized outside of this parish, and you have not already supplied us with a copy of that child’s baptismal record, you will need to supply a copy for our files by calling the parish where the child was baptized.