Catholic Schools: Building a Bright Future
Sister Ellen Rose Coughlin, SSJ
Superintendent of Schools

There are certain events that mark the passage of each school year. One of these is the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week. This year’s theme is Catholic Schools: Dividends for Life. Certainly during times of economic challenge the word dividends catches our attention. It challenges us to consider the long-term benefits of a Catholic school education.

In the economic and business world the term dividends refers to a sum or quality of money to be divided among stockholders; however, the dictionary offers an alternative meaning.  A dividend is a “gift of something extra.” What is the gift . . . the something extra that students receive in a Catholic school?

Our Catholic schools offer quality academic programs, but quality academic programs are available in public schools as well.  Our schools’ programs address the whole person, but more and more public schools are addressing components of the whole person, the most notable addition being their acknowledged commitment to character education and ethical behavior.  Our Catholic schools are often close knit “communities” where a safe, secure and orderly environment support student learning.  Many of the public school districts where our schools are located are relatively small and offer the same benefits.  Thus, the question remains. What is the gift . . . the something extra that students receive in a Catholic school?

Christ is the gift that students encounter in our Catholic schools. And from this gift comes so much more, namely a supernatural vision of life,  an awareness of the dignity of the human person, the experience of a faith community, a curriculum which acknowledges the relationship between faith and culture and  the personal witness of teachers and administrators.

Our Catholic schools see education as a process which forms the whole child in light, not only of this world, but also in terms of eternal life.   The specific purpose of Catholic education is the formation of students who, animated by the Gospel, will be good citizens of this world and of the world to come. It is neither for this life only that God created us, nor for this life only that our students require an outstanding education. Our students have been created for eternal life. This is the supernatural vision offered in a Catholic school. 

The eternal destiny of our students is accompanied by a profound respect for their dignity as human persons, made in the image and likeness of God and called to life in Christ. Catholic schools have their foundation in Christ.  The words and deeds of Jesus are central to a school’s program and environment. Christ is not an afterthought or an add-on to the foundational principles of a Catholic school.  His words and deeds are the living memory imparted to the students. He is the one who gives meaning to human life.  The mystery of the human person becomes clear only in the mystery of Christ, the Word made flesh.

The human person does not develop in isolation from others. The person has been created as a social being whose fulfillment is achieved in relationship with others. Thus, community is an essential component in a person’s development. Catholic schools are communities of faith, extensions of the first and essential community of the family and the extended family of the parish. In the school community of faith the student experiences relationships based on the Gospel and the teachings of the Church. These experiences foster good habits or virtues that instill, maintain and cultivate an environment in which the social nature of the human person can develop and flourish.

An integral education seeks to develop gradually and systematically every capability of the human person: intellectual, moral, physical, psychological and spiritual. In pursuit of this, a Catholic school fosters the love for wisdom, for the true and the beautiful, and integrates the Catholic faith with the life and culture of its students.  The Catholic school seeks to create the climate in which the student’s faith will gradually mature and the relationship between faith, culture and life are brought into harmony.

Every academic institution imparts values - ideals for which a student is prepared to pursue and eventually achieve. The ideal that provides the foundation for our Catholic schools is a person, Jesus Christ. From Him students discover a supernatural vision of life, the full dignity of the human person, the importance of community and the recognition of the relationship between faith and culture. Christ is the supreme gift that is offered to the students in our Catholic schools. He is the dividend, the something extra, or more correctly the someone who leads our students into a bright future in this world and, eventually, in eternal life.

Let me take this opportunity to thank the parents who have chosen a Catholic school for their children. I realize that in many instances this choice brings with it a financial sacrifice. This sacrifice, however, is an investment in your child’s future that will result in benefits for your child, the Church and society.
 
Likewise, I want to thank the administrators and teachers in our Catholic schools. I am most appreciative for their commitment to our Catholic schools which more often than not is accompanied by a personal financial sacrifice. The Second Vatican Council said it so well.  “. . . let teachers recognize that the Catholic school depends upon them almost entirely for the accomplishment of its goals and programs” (Decree on Catholic Education, #8).  Theirs is a supernatural calling and not simply the exercise of a profession.  “The nobility of the task to which teachers are called demands that, in imitation of Christ, the only Teacher, they reveal the Christian message not only by word but also by every gesture of their behavior. (The Catholic School, #43)  We are indeed blessed to have administrators and teachers who are willing to assume this noble task.

I encourage you to take the time to read the fine articles prepared by four of our principals. The leadership which they and our other 11 principals provide is essential to the vitality of Catholic school education in the Diocese of Ogdensburg.