Catholic Schools Week kicked off with a fascinating discussion on the Catholic educational tradition in the US. Father Tom captivated our students' attention when he chronicled the settlement and history of California with the missions spanning the state's majestic coast. He continued to tell tales of settlements among French speaking peoples in the parishes of Louisiana and the founding of the first diocese in Baltimore.
Our students were genuinely intrigued when he spoke of the Sisters of Providence and their order consisting entirely of African American women--the pivotal link to a broader theme: Catholic Schools are not just for Catholic students... But rather are for all students.
This is the point where Father Tom broke from his "spoken from the heart" portion of his homily and hit us with data... The type of numbers that made everyone sit up and listen.
Parochial Schools: Improved Outcomes For Urban Youth
In his article published in September, 2015, Andy Smarick cites, "Catholic schools have an unusual ability to help underserved kids succeed. Newer research suggests that longstanding urban Catholic schools foster social capital outside their walls, helping decrease crime and other societal ills."
Smarick details a host of innovations that parochial schools leverage in order to help "an overwhelmingly low income, minority student body, underscor[ing] the Catholic Church's centuries-long commitment to the disadvantaged." One program that he cites is the establishment of Christo Rey schools that have students enlisting in the workforce one day per week.
Our school, Holy Family Academy is built upon a similar model--all of our high school students are employed by corporate partners across the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. This innovative corporate work study internship program provides our young people with many opportunities for growth. Our students develop valuable skills at the workplace, gain the additional support of having supervisors and adult mentors, and in most instances the CWSP pays almost the entirety of our school tuition.
Our students reap the benefits of a world class private school education and have experiences few, if any teen could boast... And this is for families of any means.
To accomplish this bold mission, we are working toward expanding our flipped learning opportunities, so that our students may have learning opportunities that are portable, on-demand. Additionally, we work very hard to establish the connection between school and careers.
Our school is only two years old...It's a start-up for all intents and purposes. But it is one that we are all betting on.
When breaking the news that I was leaving my position at another school to take a role at HFA, I joked with my friends citing that this was like getting a call from Sergey Brinn and Larry Page:
"Hi, Lanas--stop by the garage and check out this cool thing we're working on... We think you would like it. We're gonna call it Google."
That was almost six months ago. It's good to know that very little has changed in that span of time. Sure... The learning curve for me has been steep--and now that I'm back to blogging that would make an excellent post... But I step into the parking lot at the end of the day with a renewed sense of urgency in my vocation as a teacher and mentor.
A lot of that was put into words today... Funny that they weren't mine. Those syllables belonged entirely to Father Tom, whom I dedicate this post, my first ever on Catholic Schools Week. Cheers!
Check out Andy Smarick's piece "Catholic Schools Are Back" (Yes, it gets a little political at the end... "the next administration, etc." I will not inject politics into this blog... this just happens to be a really sound article from a publication with political leanings... Next time, I'll throw-in an article from Huff-Post to balance out the National Review.)
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424409/catholic-schools-are-back
Forthcoming update to the post: running the numbers on Catholic Schools vs Public Schools, via the US Dept of Education
- graduation rates
Catholic > Public
- median salaries for graduates
Catholic > Public
-socioeconomic data on Vatholic vs Public
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