August in Wisconsin usually gives us a final stretch of hot and humid summer weather. For students and educators, this month does not feel like a continuation of summer, but a premature end to the summer vibes. Even if temperature makes it feel like July, the calendar is dragging students back to classrooms. As Catholic schools open their doors, it is a great time to be reminded of the extraordinary work that our school leaders do to provide families with an excellent educational program and faith-centered school community.
Catholic schools are unique. Our schools go far beyond the mission of most schools in Wisconsin. Of course, Catholic schools push students to achieve in the classroom and on standardized tests, but Catholic schools are equally focused on spiritual formation and the holistic concerns that influence a child’s complete development. Teachers in a Catholic school must care about their students’ emotional wellbeing, invite students into multiple forms of prayer and worship, and provide a lens to understand the world rooted in Church teaching. This rich, complex and challenging view of learning sets Catholic schools apart from other public and private school options.
To meet this profound and deep perspective, Catholic school leaders must pursue innovative approaches to best serve students and families. Thankfully Catholic school leaders in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee have found partners in innovation through relationships with Catholic universities. The growing relationship between Catholic primary and secondary schools and Catholic universities is opening doors to new innovative approaches to delivering our shared Catholic mission.
At St. Eugene School, Fox Point, a team of three teachers have partnered with the University of Notre Dame’s STEM Teaching Fellows to expand its science, technology, engineering and math programs. For the past two summers, the middle school math and science team of Sharon Webster, Alice Weinshrott and Sarah Mendelson have been enrolled as STEM teaching fellows at the University of Notre Dame. These outstanding teachers were selected to join a cohort of eight Catholic school teams from around the country for an intensive program on educator development, curriculum planning and teacher coaching. The program pushes schools to develop a blueprint for excellence in STEM education and fosters a mindset for making STEM content areas come alive for students.
St. Eugene has continued this innovative approach by including the arts into the science, technology, engineered and math approach. St. Eugene now models a STEAM approach to advance creative and collaborative learning. The Notre Dame STEM fellows at St. Eugene have not just improved their own teaching but are also training their fellow teachers. Utilizing peer coaching techniques that they experienced over the summer, the STEM fellows assist the entire school community in developing a collaborative mindset to learning and teaching.
Rebecca Jones, Principal at St. Eugene, said, “Our STEAM teachers have received the very best professional development programming through the partnership with Notre Dame. They have developed new ways of thinking about lessons and how to bring critical thinking and real-life applications into the classroom. These teachers are experts at modeling how collaboration should work best.” Jones feels that this creative approach to STEAM has helped St. Eugene graduates become better prepared for rigorous classes they will experience at a Catholic high school.
Catholic university partnerships are also happening here in Milwaukee. Two years ago, Marquette University launched the Catholic Schools and Parish Initiative, which offers professional development, training and formation programs for lay leaders serving in archdiocesan parishes and schools. The CSPI seeks to strengthen faith in Jesus Christ by building community and supporting institutional vitality in schools and parishes. Led by Dr. Dan Scholz, a former teacher at Pius XI High School and the former President at Cardinal Stritch University, Marquette’s CPSI is actively responding to the needs of Catholic schools by sharing resources and developing programs that expand leadership skill sets for those tasked with guiding our schools and parishes.
Parish school principals have an incredibly difficult job. They are responsible for the needs of students, parents and staff while also managing budgets and recruiting new families. Their to-do list is long and complex. With so much to do, it can be difficult to engage in long-range strategic planning that our schools need to thrive into the future. Marquette’s CPSI has developed a new program to respond to that very real need.
Over the past two years, Marquette has led 10 parish schools through a strategic planning process to clarify their strategic direction, improve decision making and optimize efficiency. This is essential work for a Catholic school but often impossible for an individual principal to do on their own. Marquette has leveraged its staff from across the university to give school leaders the resources, facilitators and a road map for Catholic school success.
The strategic planning project is one of just of about a dozen programs the CPSI and the School of Education offer to school leaders and teachers in partnership with archdiocesan Catholic schools. With Marquette University fully engaged in the partnership between Catholic K-12 and Catholic higher education, the archdiocese has a robust teammate helping to drive innovation and school improvement. The lay leaders who have taken on the challenge to lead our schools deserve the very best support and resources. We are blessed with local Catholic universities willing to join in that effort.
