MLK & Non-Violence

In honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, my Freshman Mentoring Class engaged in a group activity that brainstormed adjectives that one would associate with the values he stood for Words such as tolerance, compassion, justice, equality, fairness and non-violence surfaced during the course of the activity. The Class then developed a “Wordle” poster (a “tag cloud” of associated terms that are computer generated to appear as an artistically drawn poster).

That activity - especially the use of the tag, non-violence - resurfaced for me when Martin Luther King III, head of The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, was recently quoted in the news media asserting that the tragedy that left a Congresswoman critically injured and six people dead in Arizona is a grim reminder that the country has not yet achieved his father's dream of a peaceful society. Then, hard on the heels of that observation, Angelenos were confronted with the presence of deadly violence in their public schools - first at Gardena High School where a loaded gun concealed in a student backpack went off, critically injuring two students and, then, in Woodland Hills, when an armed man attempted to gun down a School Police Officer.

It is tempting to consider these events as isolated from our daily lives. Not so, argues the National Center for Education Statistics which recorded 13 victims of school-site shootings across the country in the 2009-2010 academic year. In reflecting on that disturbing statistic, I realized that we who labor in and support Catholic education may want to reflect more deeply on what it is about our communities that keeps this trend at bay in our schools.

A November 2010 media report entitled:

Philly Nuns Save De Sales Catholic School, Make Peace Amidst Violence

reinforces what we have come to believe about Catholic schools and the virtues of private education - only with a twist - De Sales Catholic School is in the middle of the second highest homicide district in Philadelphia (in one 48 hour period there were 10 homicides on streets near the school). Sister Jeannette Lucey and Sister Constance Tuoey became overnight fundraisers when the Archdiocese of Philadelphia threatened to close this neighborhood Catholic school. But they didn’t stop at saving the school; they also set out to save the 500 children from the violence they faced each time they walked the streets of this impoverished West Philadelphia neighborhood.

How? By making the message of non-violence inescapable in the halls, classrooms and playing fields. A particularly creative approach has been the maintenance of a “Peace Wall” where students can nominate other students who have exemplified the value of non-violence. It is filled with pictures of little sinners and saints, all trying their best to model the School’s values – values that will get them through high school and into college and, ultimately, out of poverty. Even though the school is surrounded by poverty and violence, inside its walls, the values that have always characterized Catholic education create an environment where children learn to become their best selves.

The world occupied by La Salle High School in Pasadena may seem far removed from that of De Sales Catholic School in West Philadelphia until we realize, in a month that celebrates Martin Luther King, we all have dreams. In Pasadena, it may be to become a lawyer or a business person. But in West Philadelphia, Sister Jeannette’s students wrote in their essays on Martin Luther King: “I have a dream that I'll be able to go to the store without being shot', or 'I have a dream that I won't have to cover the windows so someone doesn't shoot into my home.” At least when they enter De Sales Catholic School, they don’t have to worry about the violence coming in with them. All schools need to be this haven for the poor and affluent, alike.
Martin Luther King III said it best regarding the tragedy in Arizona: "…it shows us how much work we must do to create the kind of nation where nonviolence is embraced."

The Future of Mission at La Salle

For over three hundred years Lasallian schools have endeavored to remain faithful to the central Mission of the Brothers of the Christian Schools:

To provide a Human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor.

 Following the Second Vatican Council, the 34th General Chapter (1966) of the Christian Brothers called for an increasing integration of Lay Partners in the implementation of this Mission at the local level. Over time, as the Brothers have focused more deeply on their role as animators of the vision of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, there has developed a greater need for ongoing support for the formation of Lay Partners in the constitutive elements of the Lasallian Mission. Mindful of this shift in emphasis, La Salle High School has created the position of Vice-President for Mission. In addition to serving a s resource for Lasallian pedagogical practices, it is expected that the Vice-President for Mission will coordinate all local and District Formation programs intended to reinforce the vision and values of the Christian Brothers.

It is within this context as well as the Founder’s insistence that his teachers engage in the “conversion of souls” that La Salle High School places particular emphasis on the creation of an Office for Mission:

In carrying out your service to children, you will not fulfill your ministry adequately if you resemble Jesus Christ only in his guidance and in his conversion of souls. You must also enter into his purposes and his goals

-Meditation 196.3

When Lasallian schools were operated by a preponderance of Brothers, this catechetical imperative transcended the artificial boundaries of academic departments. Whether a Brother taught Religion or Math or English, the legacy of Saint John Baptist de La Salle’s vision for his schools was transmitted through the person of the Brother teaching his subject competency. For 40 of its 54 years, La Salle High School was fortunate to rely on the services of a critical mass of Christian Brothers in the classrooms and in administrative offices. That is no longer the case at La Salle and at other Lasallian schools on the West Coast. To address that shift in personnel, the District of San Francisco has sponsored a series of robust formation programs aimed at educating Lay Partners in the understanding of and responsibility for the Lasallian Mission. After almost 15 years of sending teachers and administrators to these programs, La Salle High School is ready to bring responsibility for supporting Formation for Mission programs to the local (Pasadena) level. It does so mindful of the growing awareness that the Brothers’ distinctive approach to Mission (“Together and by Association”) requires Lay Partners to view their role in a Lasallian school through the lens of vocation. This is not to suggest that Lay Partners must become like Brothers. Rather, it is to recall the challenge of the Second Vatican Council to nurture the vocation of the laity in the life of the Church. By virtue of our Baptism, we are each called to share responsibility for the implementation of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Happily, Lasallian schools on the West Coast have a strong track record over the course of the last forty years with respect to encouraging Lay Partners to share in the Mission bequeathed to us by Saint John Baptist de La Salle. It is this experience which prompts the School’s strategic move to emphasize the central importance of Formation for Mission by creating a senior administrative position responsible for its implementation. One of the more recent documents that remind us of this shared Mission was produced in 2006 by the Symposium of Catechesis in the Lasallian Tradition convened by the Brothers Visitor of the six Districts in the US/Toronto Region:

• “All Lasallian educators, Brothers and lay colleagues alike are evangelizers and catechists by their vocation of giving witness to the Gospel in ways that invite young people into a deeper, more integrated, more committed faith.

• “The Lasallian educator must be committed to the values and mission of the Church and of the Institute, and to the Lasallian School as a community that gives witness to and embodies Gospel values.”


• “Although the teachers of religion in the school may have a unique role or opportunity in the evangelization and catechesis of the young, the entire Lasallian educational community assists the young to interiorize and make normative Gospel values in their lives, to become more and more conscious of God calling them to help fashion a world according to God’s design.”

The specialized nature of this challenge (to encourage all educators to share responsibility for the implementation of the Lasallian Mission) necessitates the allocation of human resources in support of this goal. For the better part of the last decade this responsibility was shouldered by the President, Principal, other administrators and graduates of LLI. It is now time to allocate those responsibilities in a dedicated senior-level administrative position called the Vice President for Mission. I am particularly pleased to announce that Pat Bonacci, AFSC has graciously consented to take on this challenge beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year. I can’t think of a person more suited to this challenge than Pat. As an Affiliated member of the Christian Brothers, Pat has a deep appreciation for the mission and ministry bequeathed to us by Saint John Baptist de La Salle. His personal and professional behavior is uniquely Lasallian and he understands the power of the Lasallian pedagogical model. I am confident that, under Pat’s guidance, teachers and students will flourish in their appreciation of and commitment to Lasallian values.

Pat will continue as Principal next year (2011-2012) which will allow the School to develop a profile of the ideal candidate to serve as Principal in 2012-2013. Recognizing that it will be a challenge to fill Pat’s shoes, we want to take the next 18 months to carefully examine the central characteristics of Pat’s 20+ years of leadership here at La Salle. With that as a foundation, we will identify the critical issues facing La Salle in the next 5-10 years and begin a search for the next Principal. It is an exciting and challenging time for all of us!

To every thing there is a season...

Many of us are familiar with the Pete Seeger song, Turn, Turn, Turn. It is based on the famous passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3: 1-8 that begins with:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven

Biblical scholars argue that the relatively rare use of the word “season” in this passage is due to a more formal translation of the Hebrew concept of “fitting time”. That is to say, things happen when they are supposed to – when it is a fit time for the event to occur. As one scholar put it:

(The author) speaks of this diversity of time for two causes: first, to declare that there is nothing in this world perpetual; next, to teach us not to be grieved.

At December’s faculty meeting we listened to the first 8 lines of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 as we made the announcement that the time is near for the School to search for a new principal. More specifically, to hire a new principal to succeed Pat Bonacci, AFSC in the 2012-2013 school year. After occupying virtually every administrative position at La Salle for the last 25 years (15 as principal), Pat has asked to step back from the challenging responsibilities of the principalship at the end of the next school year. Happily, he wants to continue to serve the students entrusted to our care; albeit with a less intense set of responsibilities. Without hesitation, I knew what Pat’s next job would be at La Salle: Vice President for Mission.

This will be a new administrative position at La Salle, aimed at supporting Lasallian values among Lay Partners. In addition to serving as a resource for Lasallian pedagogical practices, it is expected that the Vice-President for Mission will coordinate all local and District Formation programs intended to reinforce the vision and values of the Christian Brothers.

Why this position and why Pat? Forgive me if I take a rhetorical detour into the world of the Christian Brothers. For over three hundred years Lasallian schools have endeavored to remain faithful to the central Mission of the Brothers of the Christian Schools:

To provide a Human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor.

Following the Second Vatican Council, the 34th General Chapter (1966) of the Christian Brothers called for an increasing integration of Lay Partners into the implementation of this Mission at the local level. Over time, as the Brothers have focused more deeply on their role as animators of the vision of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, there has developed a greater need for ongoing support for the formation of Lay Partners in the constitutive elements of the Lasallian Mission. The (2010) report of the Superior General of the Brothers to the US/Toronto Conference of Christian Brothers stressed this point:

It seems that local Lasallian formation programs are not as strong as those at the regional level.

and also stressed that:

Quality Lasallian formation is essential to keep alive the Lasallian charism as a

gift for the universal Church

Mindful of this challenge given by the Superior General, La Salle High School has created the position of Vice-President for Mission. In addition to serving as a resource for Lasallian pedagogical practices, it is expected that the Vice-President for Mission will coordinate all local and District Formation programs intended to reinforce the vision and values of the Christian Brothers.

It is within this context as well as the Founder’s insistence that his teachers engage in the “conversion of souls” that La Salle High School places particular emphasis on the creation of an Office for Mission:

In carrying out your service to children, you will not fulfill your ministry adequately if you resemble Jesus Christ only in his guidance and in his conversion of souls. You must also enter into his purposes and his goals

-Meditation 196.3

When Lasallian schools were operated by a preponderance of Brothers, this catechetical imperative transcended the artificial boundaries of academic departments. Whether a Brother taught Religion or Math or English, the legacy of Saint John Baptist de La Salle’s vision for his schools was transmitted through the person of the Brother teaching his subject competency. For 40 of its 54 years, La Salle High School was fortunate to rely on the services of a critical mass of Christian Brothers in the classrooms and in administrative offices. That is no longer the case at La Salle and at other Lasallian schools on the West Coast. To address that shift in personnel, the District of San Francisco has sponsored a series of robust formation programs aimed at educating Lay Partners in the understanding of and responsibility for the Lasallian Mission. After almost 15 years of sending teachers and administrators to these programs, La Salle High School is ready to respond to the Superior General’s call to strengthen local Lasallian formation programs by bringing responsibility for supporting Formation for Mission programs to the local (Pasadena) level. It does so mindful of the growing awareness that the Brothers’ distinctive approach to Mission (“Together and by Association”) requires Lay Partners to view their role in a Lasallian school through the lens of vocation. This is not to suggest that Lay Partners must become like Brothers. Rather, it is to recall the challenge of the Second Vatican Council to nurture the vocation of the laity in the life of the Church. By virtue of our Baptism, we are each called to share responsibility for the implementation of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Happily, Lasallian schools on the West Coast have a strong track record over the course of the last forty years with respect to encouraging Lay Partners to share in the Mission bequeathed to us by Saint John Baptist de La Salle. It is this experience which prompts the School’s strategic move to emphasize the central importance of Formation for Mission by creating a senior administrative position responsible for its implementation. One of the more recent documents that remind us of this shared Mission was produced in 2006 by the Symposium of Catechesis in the Lasallian Tradition convened by the Brothers Visitor of the six Districts in the US/Toronto Region:
• “All Lasallian educators, Brothers and lay colleagues alike are evangelizers and catechists by their vocation of giving witness to the Gospel in ways that invite young people into a deeper, more integrated, more committed faith.


• “The Lasallian educator must be committed to the values and mission of the Church and of the Institute, and to the Lasallian School as a community that gives witness to and embodies Gospel values.”


• “Although the teachers of religion in the school may have a unique role or opportunity in the evangelization and catechesis of the young, the entire Lasallian educational community assists the young to interiorize and make normative Gospel values in their lives, to become more and more conscious of God calling them to help fashion a world according to God’s design.”

The specialized nature of this challenge (to encourage all educators to share responsibility for the implementation of the Lasallian Mission) necessitates the allocation of human resources in support of this goal. For the better part of the last decade this responsibility was shouldered by the President, Principal, other administrators and graduates of LLI. It is now time to allocate these responsibilities to a dedicated senior-level administrative position called the Vice President for Mission.

Pat is particularly well-qualified to take on this challenge. As an Affiliated member of the Christian Brothers, Pat has a deep appreciation for the mission and ministry bequeathed to us by Saint John Baptist de La Salle. His personal and professional behavior is uniquely Lasallian and he understands the power of the Lasallian pedagogical model. I am confident that, under Pat’s guidance, teachers and students will flourish in their appreciation of and commitment to Lasallian values. Pat will continue as Principal next year (2011-2012) which will allow the School to develop a profile of the ideal candidate to serve as Principal in 2012-2013. Recognizing that it will be a challenge to fill Pat’s shoes, we want to take the next 18 months to carefully examine the central characteristics of Pat’s 25 years of leadership here at La Salle. With that as a foundation, we will identify the critical issues facing La Salle in the next 5-10 years and begin a search for the next Principal. I also want to assure you that our succession planning efforts will carefully take into account all of the wonderful values that you have found to be typical of your interaction with La Salle.

This Annual Report is a particularly special one because, not only are we giving you an accounting of the past 12 months, we are also giving you a glimpse of an exciting future framed by a chapter that sees Pat Bonacci, AFSC shift from one set of Mission-driven responsibilities to another, equally critical, set of challenges. It’s a story that is worthy of pursuing.

After the quote from Ecclesiastes was read to the faculty, Associate Principal, John Ring read a quote from the “Book of Pat”:

A time for transition to allow for new leadership and institutional reflection, a time for grandpa to spend more time with grandson, a time for Pat to step back and embrace a new professional challenge!

Indeed, there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens! It is an exciting and challenging time for all of us!

Why it's important to know who Maimonides was...

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life recently published a report on the degrees of religious knowledge within various segments of the US population; and the findings are surprising. According to the Pew Forum:

Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

I suppose that I could accept the fact that people of the Jewish faith would know more about the Christian religion and its core teachings (after all, they are responsible for authoring the Old Testament); but…Mormons? I don’t have a problem with the existence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; but they’ve only been around since 1830! One would think that the faithful of the Catholic religion - all of 2000 years old, would have a better command of knowledge regarding our shared written traditions - the Old & New Testaments.

Previous surveys by the Pew Research Center have shown that America is among the most religious of the world’s developed nations. Nearly six-in-ten U.S. adults say that religion is “very important” in their lives, and roughly four-in-ten say they attend worship services at least once a week. But the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey shows that large numbers of Americans are uninformed about the tenets, practices, history and leading figures of major faith traditions – including their own.

In other words, while we Americans tend to take our religion very seriously, we aren’t as concerned about knowing why we believe what we do. From a Catholic perspective, for example, it is disturbing to discover that 45% of Catholics who responded to the survey did not know the central distinguishing tenet of Catholicism - which is that the bread and wine used in Communion do not merely symbolize but actually become the body and blood of Christ.

I suppose there is some cold comfort in the fact that this lack of religious knowledge is not limited to Catholics alone. Slightly more than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the instigator of the Protestant Reformation and 40% of Jews were unable to identify the significance of Maimonides. Nevertheless, these results help explain the rising tide of secularism in American society. Without religious literacy, it is practically impossible to refute those who seek to exclude religion from the social order, much less maintain fidelity to one’s own beliefs.

What can be done? The Pew Forum’s findings point to several important strategies. First, the survey results suggest that educational attainment (highest level of schooling) is the single largest predictor of religious literacy. Not surprisingly, the Survey also suggests that those who read Scripture on a regular basis, talk about religion with friends and family and attend church weekly are more likely to demonstrate greater religious literacy than those who don’t.

I’ve often argued the point that the purpose of the Religious Studies curriculum at La Salle is to:

• Nurture the faith of our Catholic students
• Encourage our non-Catholic students to grow in their faith tradition
• Enable our unchurched students to appreciate the religious basis for our shared moral values

We do this through the same strategies (albeit School Masses are monthly, not weekly) that the Pew Forum suggests will enhance religious literacy and, by extension, religious fidelity. In a time when our society is desperate for a moral anchor that doesn’t emerge from the “chattering class” found on television, radio and the Internet, I can’t think of a better argument for the Mission of La Salle High School than the findings of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Testing the Teachers

I was outraged when I learned that the head of United Teachers Los Angeles called for a boycott of The Los Angeles Times because of its "Grading the Teachers" project which, A.J. Duffy believes, “represents a continuing attack on our profession.” I want to be clear: I am not outraged because a union chief called for a job action. I am outraged because the chief representative of teachers in Los Angeles advocated interfering with two of the most fundamental privileges contained in our Nation’s Bill of Rights: the guarantee of a free press (no matter how odious) and the guarantee of free speech (no matter how obnoxious). We teach this in all of our schools. What kind of example is being set – particularly in such a highly charged situation as the Times’ article on the value-added of individual teachers – if educators not only oppose free and open debate, but actively seek to restrict it?

 Let me also be clear about another thing: I am unwaveringly convinced that we educators must be measured – in whole or in part – by our students’ performance on standardized and achievement-based tests.  Why would we want anything less than the security offered the public by the knowledge that the competence of our attorneys, accountants, physicians – even our realtors – must be measured by their performance on one or more tests? These professionals can’t even get to the point of being tested without passing through our schools. If for no other reason (and there are plenty) than to prepare future accountants and physicians for the rigorous testing they must face in order to be licensed to practice their professions, we pre-collegiate educators must emphasize the importance of every form of testing.  And, if we emphasize its importance, then we must agree to be measured and evaluated by our students’ performance on these tests.  I’m reminded of the famous Vince Lombardi quote:

If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?

Even more irritating have been quotes from various teachers, such as this one on the Time’s Blog: "Teenagers are teenagers. They are inexplicable, as are student test scores." Not, if you re-read the original story, which analyzed 1.5 million scores from 603,500 students over a seven year period. Any statistician will support the utility of examining large performance samples taken from hundreds of thousands of test-takers over an extended period of time. The argument that a “student having a bad day” explains a particularly low test score is eliminated by virtue of the patterns that emerge from large samples taken over an extended period of time. As a matter of fact, we can form conclusions about teacher effectiveness when measured against huge statistical samples. What we can’t do is predict future performance of the teacher. That is up to the teachers and their supervisors.

According to The Times, they “used a statistical approach known as value-added analysis, which rates teachers based on their students' progress on standardized tests from year to year. Each student's performance is compared with his or her own in past years, which largely controls for outside influences often blamed for academic failure: poverty, prior learning and other factors.  The utility of this approach at the elementary and middle school levels is supported by the way those grades are typically structured: language arts and mathematics (the two most common disciplines measured by many standardized tests) are typically isolated from the rest of the curriculum, making it simpler to link student mastery to content taught. It is a more challenging task at the high school level where the curriculum tends to overlap individual academic disciplines. But we do have a rough framework that can support measuring student performance in the SAT and ACT exams. These tools provide a broad indicator of student achievement near the end of their high school career. Any high school teacher who is inclined to repeat the blogger’s argument that “student test scores are inexplicable” better not do so in the presence of anxious high school parents looking at college options!

Lastly, I want to take note of the term which describes the statistical analysis used by The Los Angeles Times: value-added.  Here, at  La Salle, we would want to expand the concept of “value-added” by including the religious, artistic and athletic dimensions which contribute to the whole person walking across the stage at Commencement. Readers of this space know that I am fond of describing our Mission in this way:

We produce good students and good people.

For us, the concept of “value-added” extends well beyond the measures of a standardized test. It must include the notion that our efforts as high school educators are in vain if our students don’t leave us better able to meet the challenges, not just of college, but of life as well. If I could figure out how to test for that, I would!

The Future of Catholic Education Part 5

I’ve devoted this space lately to a reflection on a talk on the future of American Catholic education given by Fordham University President, Joseph McShane, SJ. Father McShane articulated five theses which, he believes, will characterize Catholic schools of the future:


1. The challenges that Catholic education has faced and overcome in the past 50 years will pale in comparison to the challenges that it will face in the next 50 years

2. The American Catholic School System will thrive only if the Church recognizes that it is a community of communities – and that the needs of the various communities that it is called to serve are different

3. The American Catholic School System will survive and thrive only if it is able to believe in, nurture and build community-based schools in which ownership is shared by the parish community, the school faculty and the parents

4. Students will come in the door expecting one thing (namely, an entrée to a successful professional life) and they will discover something entirely far richer: they will discover the faith

5. The American Catholic School System will thrive only if it is seen as … a great, transcendent and transforming instrument of both grace and personal enrichment

This month I want to consider his fifth and final thesis:

The American Catholic School System will thrive only if it is seen as … a great, transcendent and transforming instrument of both grace and personal enrichment

McShane’s use of the term grace alludes to one of the great assertions of Catholic theology made by Saint Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica: “grace builds on nature.” By this, he meant that God works through the natural and human condition in order to bring us closer to the perfection to which we aspire in the next life. Humanity, in all of its sinfulness, becomes the vehicle through which God moves us closer to Him. In the words of one commentator: “To say that grace builds on nature means that we can change.”

I can’t think of a better rationale for the existence of Catholic schools than this understanding of grace: it is possible for humans to change for the better. The entire system of K-12 Catholic education is organized around this principle. Two of the three sacraments of Initiation occur during this time. Elementary students prepare for the sacrament of First Eucharist while secondary students prepare for the sacrament of Confirmation. Both moments memorialize, in McShane’s understanding, “the transforming instrument of…grace.” The study of Religion over the course of 12 years and student involvement in community service programs reinforce this notion that we humans are on a journey of “personal enrichment” which aims at union with God in the next life. In one sense, McShane’s fifth thesis embodies the first four. Saint John Baptist de La Salle understood this when he insisted the purpose of his schools is to offer the students entrusted to our care salvation that is both human and Christian: that is a productive life in this world and union with God in the next. Lutheran theologian, Stephen Schmidt underscores this dynamic when he wrote:

Grace builds on nature, and the whole enterprise of becoming a Christian is about the abundant possibility of optimistic hope.

What a noble sentiment to reflect upon during these days following the great celebration of Pentecost. With the Holy Spirit as our guide and a renewed commitment to the transcendent and transformative possibilities of Catholic education, McShane’s prognosis for Catholic schools over the course of the next 50 years may find us positioned to impact secular culture in more ways than we can now imagine.

The Future of Catholic Education Part 4

I’ve devoted this space lately to a reflection on a talk on the future of American Catholic education given by Fordham University President, Joseph McShane, SJ. Father McShane articulated five theses which, he believes, will characterize Catholic schools of the future:


1. The challenges that Catholic education has faced and overcome in the past 50 years will pale in comparison to the challenges that it will face in the next 50 years


2. The American Catholic School System will thrive only if the Church recognizes that it is a community of communities – and that the needs of the various communities that it is called to serve are different


3. The American Catholic School System will survive and thrive only if it is able to believe in, nurture and build community-based schools in which ownership is shared by the parish community, the school faculty and the parents


4. Students will come in the door expecting one thing (namely, an entrée to a successful professional life) and they will discover something entirely far richer: they will discover the faith


5. The American Catholic School System will thrive only if it is seen as … a great, transcendent and transforming instrument of both grace and personal enrichment

This month I want to consider his fourth thesis:
Students will come in the door expecting one thing (namely, an entrée to a successful professional life) and they will discover something entirely far richer: they will discover the faith

Recently La Salle’s Trustees conducted their annual Mission Effectiveness Workshop in which administrators, faculty, parents and students came together to evaluate the degree to which the School is successful in implementing the principles of our Mission Statement. The workshop ended with a Q & A session in which the adults asked the student panel to describe their experience through the lens of our Mission Statement. It was a powerful and exciting experience to encounter the candor of our students regarding what we do well and what we can do better.

I was particularly pleased to see that they identified the School’s commitment to community service as an integral component of their day-to-day experience. I have often described our Mission in terms of producing good students and good people. The students’ recognition of the importance of service reinforces the second ideal of producing good people and resonates with McShane’s notion that students will discover something far richer than just a superior college preparatory education. In his words:

Parents are willing to invest in Catholic schools because they believe (rightly) that the schools will reinforce the values that they teach their children at home.

I’ve commented in this space and elsewhere that La Salle is successful primarily because of the close home/school partnership that nourishes a shared set of values above and beyond the demands of preparation for college. And, while these values are rooted in the Catholic faith, they are pertinent to all faith traditions represented in the school. I’ve come to believe that the values formation component of our educational program encourages all of our students to become more deeply committed to their particular faith tradition and, since there are many ways to approach God in this world, we can be assured of their spiritual formation as well. After all, schools like La Salle exist because of the shared belief that students are being educated for something that is bigger than they. If we merely offered a good preparation for college and didn’t embed in that education a deep commitment to values formation, our Mission would cease to have any significance in the larger culture. McShane puts it this way:

Therefore, although the schools stressed the importance of passing on the faith, they also stressed the need to prepare students to be players in the culture and the world that they would inhabit as they grew older.


Recently, we adopted a new phrase to capture the essence of a La Salle education:

LEARN  SERVE  LEAD

We expect the students entrusted to our care to make a difference when they leave us; to be “players in the culture” by using their experience of learning and serving while at La Salle to form them into tomorrow’s leaders. This is the “for something” that distinguishes La Salle from other exemplary high schools. It is gratifying to hear our students echo this sentiment in the context of our Mission Effectiveness Workshop.

Next month, the final condition of McShane’s thesis: Catholic schools as transforming institutions.