Catholic school system forms in Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Deanery |
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Written by LAURIE STEVENS, Chronicle Writer
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Friday, 06 June 2008 01:00 |
TOLEDO—Shared leadership and a common mission will unite four Catholic schools in the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Deanery beginning this fall.
Under the plan approved by Bishop Leonard P. Blair in March, Sacred Heart and St. Thomas schools in Toledo, Walbridge St. Jerome School and Oregon Cardinal Stritch High School will cease to operate independently and will join to form the Kateri Catholic School System.
A governance board will operate the preschool through 12th grade school system and execute the mission of Catholic education in the deanery.
In its mission statement, the Kateri Catholic School System promises to provide students with “a sustainable world- class Catholic education system” designed to help all students “achieve at their highest academic levels while providing strong extracurricular programs.” It also pledges “to invite young people to be disciples of Jesus Christ in an atmosphere where stewardship will be a way of life that will pervade every aspect of school culture.”
Board members include the pastors and pastoral leaders of the deanery and a cross-section of representatives from each parish and Cardinal Stritch High School. Father David Reinhart, president of Cardinal Stritch, has been named the president of the school system.
“We, in essence, have a school system that’s owned equally by all the parishes of our deanery,” explains Fr. David Reinhart.
“The great news is that now all the people of the deanery own Catholic education, whether they have a Catholic school on their campus or not,” he continues. “It’s an equal partnership — or we’re moving towards that.”
The changes emerged from the Kateri Education Project, a strategic planning process sponsored by the pastoral leadership of the deanery in May 2007 to evaluate the long-term viability of Catholic education in the deanery.
One particular quote from the U.S. bishops’ 2005 letter, “Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium,” ignited and guided the planning process, according to Fr. Reinhart:
“The burden of supporting our Catholic schools can no longer be placed exclusively on the individual parishes that have schools and on parents who pay tuition … the future of Catholic school education depends on the Catholic community.”
Operating the schools formally as a mission of all the parishes allows for “a better consensus on where we’re going with Catholic education,” says Joe Herman, a Cardinal Stritch board member who co-chaired the steering committee for the Kateri Education Project with Fr. Reinhart.
“Ultimately, our recommendation to the pastors was that nothing can be done unless we have a governing body of decision makers on the behalf of Catholic education,” says Fr. Reinhart.
Deanery leaders accepted their recommendation after a series of town hall meetings in the parishes of the deanery.
At this time, Fr. Reinhart says, the schools will retain their names and continue to operate on their existing campuses.
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Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2008 09:17 |
