Blueprint for Catholic schools being formulated

    As we begin a new year, the Office of Catholic Schools would like to count its blessings: We are blessed to have dedicated administrators, faculty and staff; we are blessed to have faith-filled parents and students; we are blessed to have an archbishop who strongly supports and believes in the mission of Catholic schools.
    Archbishop Gregory Aymond is so dedicated to the future of Catholic education in the archdiocese that he has hired Dr. John Convey and Dr. Leonard DeFiore of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., to look at our schools and assist the archdiocese in establishing a blueprint for the future. It is a future that will include challenge and sacrifice, but it is a future of hope and opportunity if we work together.
    What will this blueprint look like? It will focus on these four concepts:
    ➤ Catholic identity: The plan will ensure that Catholic identity is woven into every facet of education. In each school, Christ must be at the center of every day. In each school, every child must be treated in a sacred way, as each child bears the image and likeness of God. In each school, we must teach as Jesus did, with love and compassion.
    ➤ Strong academics based on data: The strategic plan will make use of the collected data to make relevant changes in academics. The plan will ensure that each Catholic school maintains the high academic standards that have made Catholic education in the United States second to none.
    ➤ Financial feasibility: The blueprint will point to ways in which we can answer this question – how can we make our schools affordable, offer strong academics, meet the needs of our children and, at the same time, offer a socially just wage to our teachers and staff? What steps can we take to balance these variables?
    ➤ Viability of Catholic education: The Catholic University blueprint will help us highlight the wonderful initiatives that Catholic schools are implementing in our archdiocese. The blueprint also will look at demographics to make specific suggestions about our schools.
    How will the blueprint be formulated?
    We have four task forces: Catholic Identity, Governance, Finances and Marketing. These groups are looking at our schools and looking at our data to determine where are we going as a family of schools.
    What are the benefits of using the experts from Catholic University? Drs. Convey and DeFiore have spent the last year getting to know the characteristics of our unique region and are able to use their findings to offer solutions relevant to our area and situation. At the same time, they bring creative ideas successfully used elsewhere; the challenges we face here regarding Catholic education are the same challenges faced across the country.

Need survey participation
    What can you do to help? The Archdiocese of New Orleans would like every family – whether you have children in Catholic schools or not – to fill out a survey that will be used in the formulation of the strategic plan. Please go to this link and fill out the brief survey so your voice can be a part of the conversation: http://cua.neworleans.sgizmo.com.
    When the survey is complete at the end of January and following the development of preliminary proposals, we will form focus groups, including priests, superiors of religious order schools, principals and presidents. They will look at the information and give their input. From there, we will have town hall meetings in March and April across the archdiocese. Please look for the dates and locations in future issues of the Clarion Herald, as well as in parish and school bulletins.
    Finally, the recommendations of the strategic plan will be made to the archbishop this summer and then will be presented to pastors and other key administrators. I, along with the Office of Catholic Schools, will work with the archbishop to develop and implement the plan.
    As we consider the blessing of Catholic education, it is important to let you know that Archbishop Aymond has decided that no school will close in the 2012-13 school year as a result of the strategic planning process. In fact, all changes will be done in a spirit of transparency and cooperation. We need everyone’s ideas and support to ensure the future of our Catholic schools.
    We expect the best possible Catholic education for this region. Catholic education has had such a positive impact in our community, in the lives of so many. While being a strong part of our past, it will be an even stronger part of our future. Together, we can ensure this reality.
    Dr. Jan Daniel Lancaster is superintendent of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. She can be reached at [email protected].