Diocese of Green Bay: The Catholic School Year in Review

As this school year draws to a close, Mark Salisbury, Diocesan Superintendent of Schools, though it was a great opportunity to review some of the services our office provides to Catholic schools and also look to the future with hope. Cornerstones of our services to schools include leadership development, strengthening Catholic identity, curriculum development, marketing, strategic and financial planning.

Our education office assists Catholic schools and parishes across the diocese in facilitating strategic catechetical planning from the Faith Alive project in the greater Green Bay Area, to Clintonville/Bear Creek, to Wrightstown/ Greenleaf/Askeaton, and Kiel/New Holstein among others. One of the helpful tools we are developing through the work of our diocesan Board of Education is a financial planning tool which enables parish schools to identify strengths and areas of concern in their financial stewardship. We also assisted several schools facilitate their accreditation process.

In the area of marketing and promotion we are expanding the good news story of our Diocesan Catholic Schools through regular columns in the Compass, billboard, and radio advertising. Xavier High School in Appleton was selected as one of this year’s top 50 Catholic High Schools in the nation by the Acton Institute. We have targeted local Catholic school marketing planning efforts in areas as diverse as Clintonville, Shawano, Appleton, Kaukauna, and Green Bay. General marketing, recruiting and retention workshops were offered to all principals in three different locations this past fall.

Efforts are underway to create a common standards-based curriculum for all our schools infused with Catholic values throughout all disciplines. This constantly-improving effort will be web-based and available for all to view. This year at Principal Leadership Days we reflected on the most effective assessment strategies which will align with this standards-based curriculum. This effort recognizes the importance of accountability of excellence to our various constituencies, especially parents and students.

At the foundation of a Catholic school is its Catholic identity. By Catholic identity we mean all aspects of the school are inspired and guided by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It includes leadership, faculty and staff, curriculum, the lived Christian community atmosphere, the celebration of prayer and sacraments, as well as our community service programs which are rooted in the Gospel. We constantly strive to improve these areas of our schools.
We are especially proud of Saint John School in Little Chute, Holy Cross School in Bay Settlement, Notre Dame School in DePere, and the ACES Xavier system in the Appleton area. Each of them recently shared their stories with principals and teachers across the Diocese on how they are infusing Catholic identity throughout their schools’ entire culture. This year our Principals helped define what Catholic identity means for all the schools of our diocese. Going forward we plan to reflect annually on this definition, publicize our strengths and set realistic annual goals for improvement.

We continue to work with our principal leaders on three main strands of leadership development: as a spiritual leader; as an academic leader; and as an administrative leader. We work with our principal leaders through regularly scheduled whole group and regional in-service days, site visits, phone and e-mail support.

Much of our shared success is dependent upon the teamwork and vision of the pastor, the local Board of Education, and the principal. For that reason, we are committed to ongoing training of local boards of education, and personal visits with pastors, principals and Board of Education's to help strengthen this leadership triangle.

As you can see, it’s been a busy year. By continuing to strengthen the above elements of our schools we can look forward with hope to a strong future for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Green Bay.