Articles on the Strategic Plan
for Catholic Elementary Education

Building Stronger Catholic Elementary Schools
 

An ongoing series on the Strategic Plan for Catholic Elementary Schools: Vision for the Future

The Diocese of Rockville Centre released a Strategic Plan for Catholic Elementary Education on September 22, 2011, outlining the goals and actions that will provide a future for Catholic elementary schools on Long Island that is fiscally secure, academically excellent and fully engaged in promoting the Catholic faith and values.   This plan may be accessed through the diocesan website, www.drvc.org.

1. Introduction

2. Challenges

3. Strong Catholic Identity

“This Strategic Plan is about making schools stronger,” said the Most Reverend William Murphy, bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre. “It will help us to identify and take advantage of the many opportunities that lie ahead in order to provide Catholic education that is academically excellent and spiritually engaging as well as affordable and accessible.”

To accomplish this goal, he created the Bishop’s Advisory Committee on Catholic Education and charged it with examining the challenges facing our schools and providing a framework for overcoming them. For more than 18 months, the committee followed a thoughtful, inclusive process, seeking input from pastors, principals, teachers, parents, and business and community leaders.   The Strategic Plan identified six important strategic elements that must be addressed to preserve and enhance our schools:

1.      Strong Catholic Identity

2.      Educational Excellence

3.      Effective Organization and Governance

4.      Collaborative Leadership

5.      Responsible Stewardship

6.      Vibrant and Effective Communications

These six areas are critical to our efforts to create a future in which Catholic elementary education continues to thrive in the Diocese.   Bishop Murphy said, “This Strategic Plan will make our schools stronger academically, stronger in terms of faith formation and stronger at preparing students to go out into the community as men and women of fine character who can make a difference.”

Mr.  Brian Shea, chair, Bishop’s Advisory Committee for Catholic Education said the Strategic Plan presents a “practical and realistic way” for our Catholic schools to adapt to the challenges they face and “to create change for the better.” The Strategic Plan is a positive, forward-looking framework for creating strong, vibrant, and sustainable schools.

 “I am optimistic about the future in both the short term and the long term,” Mr. Shea said.

In the coming weeks, we will provide more information about the Strategic Plan and our vision for the future of Catholic elementary schools in our Diocese. By working together – religious and laity, principals and teachers, parents and students – we can achieve our shared goal of creating a secure future for our schools.

Challenges

The Strategic Plan was initiated in response to several distinct challenges beyond the control of our Diocese that confront us today and require us to examine ways to preserve and enhance our elementary schools for future generations of students and their families.

·         Changing demographics: The aging population of Nassau and Suffolk counties is producing fewer children, leading to enrollment declines not only in Catholic schools but also in public, independent, and religious schools.

·         Rising costs: Rising operating costs have strained the budgets of parishes and the Diocese at the same time as the economic downtown has strained the budgets of families, making tuition more difficult to afford.

·         Societal trends: Continuing secularization of society has diminished interest in religious education.

·         Government policy: The state government does not grant tuition tax credits to parents who send their children to Catholic schools, despite saving hundreds of millions of dollars by not having to spend state funds to educate Catholic school students.

Taken together, these factors go a long way to explain why fewer parents are choosing to send their children to our elementary schools. In the 1960s, our Diocese of Rockville Centre had 92 elementary schools with 78,000 students. Last year, we had 55 elementary schools with 19,000 students. 

To address these challenges, Bishop William Murphy empanelled a special Bishop’s Advisory Committee on Catholic Education, which has produced a Strategic Plan that provides a framework for preserving and enhancing our elementary schools.  The Strategic Plan is about renewing and transforming our schools.  We are at once renewing our commitment to our elementary schools and transforming them in ways that will make them better through high academic standards, faith-based learning, and programs that reflect the best practices in education today. By addressing our challenges together, we will overcome them and continue to offer outstanding primary education for our children.

Each week we will be providing more information about the Strategic Plan and our vision for the future of Catholic elementary schools in our Diocese. To access the Strategic Plan and previous articles on the Plan, go to www.drvc.org.

STRONG CATHOLIC IDENTITY

In the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Catholic identity is the defining characteristic and essential element in Catholic schools.  The central ministry of our schools is to infuse an excellent academic program with Catholic teaching on faith and morals, a commitment to serving others, and a sense of the sacred.  Catholic schools produce students who are faith-filled and committed to living the Gospel message as proclaimed and taught by the Church.

A strong foundation in the faith is more important today than ever because the growing secularization of society creates daily challenges for family life. “Catholic schools are parents’ best friends,” said Brian Shea, chair of  the Bishop’s Advisory Committee on Catholic Education. “They reinforce the faith and values parents want for their children.” Catholic schools are an invaluable counter-weight to the pervasive influence of modern culture and are a proven means to transmit faith to the next generation. 

Catholic education supports the growth and development of the whole child – spiritually, intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically – and meets the needs of the individual within a Christian atmosphere centered on Christ.  The aim of our Catholic elementary schools is to create an environment in which faith, trust, and love for God and others are encouraged, lived, and witnessed in our children’s lives.  The impact of a Catholic education is life long: Students who attend Catholic schools demonstrate a command of religious knowledge and are more likely to participate in the life of the church.

 As a vital part of the Strategic Plan for our schools, religious instruction will continue to be both a core academic subject as well as an underlying belief structure that is woven into all facets of curriculum and instruction. The Strategic Plan is about sustaining and enhancing our elementary schools so they may continue to provide the excellent education and solid foundation in the faith that parents have come to expect.

In the coming weeks, we will provide more information about the Strategic Plan and our vision for the future of Catholic elementary schools in our Diocese.  By working together – religious and laity, principals and teachers, parents and students – we can achieve our shared goal of creating a secure future for our schools.  To access the Strategic Plan and previous articles like this, go to www.drvc.org.