In serving as Superintendent of Schools the past 11 years, I’ve done my fair share of driving throughout the Diocese of Wilmington visiting our 30 Catholic schools in Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore which serve 8,600+ students.
A more recent observation I’ve had in my travels is the number of new housing developments under construction throughout Kent and Sussex Counties and the lower counties of the Eastern Shore. While varying in size, shape, and amenities, all of the new developments share a few basic items. First, there is generally a single builder of each development. Second, all of the homes require a secure foundation. Third, there is a basic blueprint for the homes in the development. The combination of these factors leads to a successful construction project appealing to new residents.
In much the same way, the start of the 2023-2024 school year incorporates the three basic items found in the new construction “below the Canal.” Our diocesan school-wide theme this year is “Let Us Build the Kingdom of God.” This theme reminds all of us in Catholic education that we are kingdom-builders. Our primary builder is Jesus Christ who serves as the secure foundation on which all of our faith and teaching is built. The blueprint for development in our schools and in our lives this school year will be the Beatitudes.
In every Catholic school we shall seek to build God’s kingdom through prayer, instruction, and practice of the Beatitudes with our students, their families, and our educators. Each month Catholic schools will focus on one of the eight Beatitudes and a corresponding virtue to be practiced. In September we begin with the first Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The virtue to be practiced throughout the month is simplicity, knowing that what we have been given is enough. In each of the succeeding months, our attention will turn to the next Beatitude.
The Beatitudes provide a blueprint of living for those connected with our school communities. Integrating the Beatitudes and all Catholic teaching in the school’s curriculum is what separates Catholic school education from other forms of public or private education. It is the value-added dimension that only Catholic schools can offer fully to today’s families. It is the very reason Catholic schools exist.
However, Catholic schools must also provide quality education to their students through strong academic programs. In addition to an annual assessment in knowledge and practice of the faith (ARK) administered each year, students in Catholic schools participate in other standardized national assessments that measure ongoing growth. In Grades K-12 Catholic school students are assessed in reading and math four times throughout the year through Renaissance to obtain real-time results of their progress in these essential subjects, so that teachers and administrators can utilize student performance to plan and differentiate instruction in the classroom.
Each year students in Grades 9-11 take the PSAT in the fall and Grade 11 students take the SAT in the spring. These experiences inform the students, their families, and their teachers about areas of strength and challenge to better prepare learners for college decisions since college acceptance for Catholic school students is in the 99th percentile.
Classroom instruction focuses on creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. Programs in schools addressing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Science), robotics, coding, and artificial intelligence stand beside our traditional emphases on the visual and performing arts, theater, and dance, and yes, even penmanship. Catholic schools have not abandoned all the good for which they have been recognized, they have only added to it.
Service completes the three-legged stool that is Catholic education. In addition to faith formation and academic rigor, Catholic schools this year will continue their long-standing practice of reaching out to the marginalized near and far. Not only through collections of funds and donations of goods do Catholic schools serve those in need, but also through grade-appropriate, in-person experiences students meet the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the lonely, the lost, and the forgotten. In these situations the teachings of the Beatitudes (and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and Catholic Social Teaching, each focused upon in previous years) come alive.
This joy-filled and challenging ministry is the work each day of a corps of administrators, teachers, and staff members committed to the mission of Catholic education. They are 900+ professionals strong in their respective fields of education who serve our youth as ambassadors for Christ. Our students, their families, and our communities are grateful to these kingdom-builders who give of their time, talent, and treasure so generously.
Each parishioner in the Diocese of Wilmington joins this same corps of kingdom-builders through their prayer and financial support for the success of Catholic school education. As in the early church, the work of evangelization is a privilege and obligation of every person in the community. Much is expected of Catholic school education and much is delivered in our Catholic schools. In this 2023-2024 school year, together “Let Us Build the Kingdom of God.”
