Denver Catholic

4 MARCH 26-APRIL 8, 2016 | DENVER CATHOLIC In-Depth Cover Dear friend of Catholic schools, D uring the last months of his life, Pope St. John Paul II met with a Catholic university and shared with them his conviction about the importance of Catholic education by borrowing a line from Cicero: "Just as a field, even if it is fertile, cannot bear fruit without cultivation, so also a spirit without learning." He thus emphasized that Catholic education, rightly under- stood, is important in cultivating the spiritual life in its students. Indeed, the goal of a Catholic school must be not only to prepare its students for a suc- cessful life in this world, but especially to prepare them for eternal life with God. To that end, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila asked the Oªce of Catholic Schools this past October to evaluate the Catholic identity and life of the high schools within the Archdiocese of Denver. The central question this: how could our high schools be both highly e‡ective academically, and fulfill their important role of forming students to be authentic followers of Christ? We conducted a "visitation" whereby we sent a team assembled by Arch- bishop Aquila and myself. The team used the methodology developed by Archbishop J. Michael Miller, former Secretary for the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, as articulated in a brief document titled,§"The Holy See's Teaching on Catholic Schools." In his work, Archbishop Miller asserted that there are five essential marks that define a Catholic school, and all five should be visibly present. 1 Inspired by a supernatural vision: Schools are about preparing stu- dents for Heaven. 2 Founded on a Christian anthro- pology: Specifically, our schools work toward "perfection of chil- dren as images of God." 3 Animated by communion and community: Schools should promote an environment that "safe-guards the priority of the person"§in the Catholic intellec- tual tradition. 4 Imbued with the Catholic worl- dview across the curriculum: Schools should "transform the way we see reality" and help students approach prob- lems of the secular world in conformity to the Church's Magisterium. 5 A place where com- mitted Catholics teach: Catholic teachers must be "witnesses for Christ" and serve as role models for the children they are helping to form in the faith. After a team visited our two archdi- ocesan high schools (Bishop Machebeuf and Holy Family) and the four inde- pendent high schools sponsored by religious communities (Regis Jesuit, Mullen, Arrupe Jesuit, and St. Mary's), I can unequivocally say that this was long overdue. The team noticed several areas where schools excelled. However, we also discovered notable weaknesses. With that said, I am optimistic about the future. We have identified con- crete actions promoting continuous improvement in the areas of Catholic culture, professional development for sta‡, and theological education for stu- dents. Working collaboratively with the leadership team of each high school, I believe each school will be strengthened in their ability to promote the Catholic faith while imparting the gift of their foundational§charism to their students. Below are two key areas where the high schools will focus their e‡orts over the upcoming years. THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT The visitation revealed the wide variety of approaches to theological instruction and practices of faculty and sta‡ formation in the Catholic faith. To help strengthen these essential compo- nents of Catholic identity, the Oªce of Catholic Schools will do the following: Each school shall work with the Oªce of Catholic Schools to o‡er four years of Catholic theology that will closely align its theology curriculum—in scope, sequence, and content—with the frame- work for secondary religious education established by the USCCB (United States Council of Catholic Bishops). The primary task of a Catholic high school is to help form its students to become intentional disciples of Jesus Christ. This work of curricular revision will be accom- plished in consultation with the Oªce of Catholic Schools and completed in its planning stage by the end of this year. Each participating school will face di‡erent challenges in implementing these curriculum changes. The Oªce of Catholic Schools will monitor and assist implementation as needed. The Oªce of Catholic Schools will work collaboratively with each high school in developing an ongoing for- mation program in the Catholic Faith for administrators and school sta‡ who have a mentoring or teaching role for students. This formation program shall include the essential elements and sources of Catholic doctrine and life, including: Sacred Scripture, Catholic doctrine as contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the life of liturgical worship and personal prayer. The formation program will also o‡er opportunities for teachers from across the archdiocese to gather at least annually in community to share best practices about imbedding the Catholic faith across curricular areas. Each school will design and imple- ment a plan alongside the Oªce of Catholic Schools for the ongoing theo- logical formation of its entire theology faculty, while respecting the founda- tional§charism of each school. RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER The visitation also revealed that many schools, to varying degrees, did not have regular communication occurring between their leadership teams and the Archdiocese of Denver. In order to facili- tate and strengthen the ties between the Church and each of the schools, the fol- lowing actions must be taken: The archbishop and the superinten- dent of Catholic Schools will visit each school annually, with time set aside for an all-school Mass and meetings with various constituencies at the school (e.g. leadership, chaplain(s), religion teach- er(s), students) to discuss their e‡orts to promote intentional discipleship and progress regarding continuous improve- ment e‡orts. To ensure the promotion of Catholic values in all our Catholic schools, each school shall seek approval for its outside speakers with the Oªce of the Archbishop. The Oªce of Catholic Schools will work collaboratively with schools to establish and monitor a continuous improvement model encompassing Archbishop Miller's five essential marks that make a school Catholic. It is expected that this process will involve additional meetings of mem- bers of the Oªce of Catholic Schools and of various constituencies at each of the participating schools. The visitation was the first of its kind in the archdiocese. What has just been described, accordingly, should be under- stood as a first foundation for a continued and sustained e‡ort to strengthen the Catholic identity of the high schools. I wish to thank school administrators and teachers for their many years of selfless service, as they have educated genera- tions of children in the archdiocese. I also wish to thank all of the schools for opening their doors and for their will- ingness to collaboratively commit to a process of continuous improvement regarding Catholic culture and theolog- ical education. Archbishop Aquila and I look forward to individually working with our Catholic high schools so that we together may encourage a life of mission- ary discipleship to Jesus Christ. Sincerely yours in Christ, Kevin D. Kijewski, J.D. Superintendent of Catholic Schools Archbishop's high school visitation produces promising results Kevin D. Kijewski, J.D. Superintendent of Catholic Schools Just as a field, even if it is fertile, cannot bear fruit without cultivation, so also a spirit without learning." "

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