July 3, 2008

Catholic Schools Honored

The Catholic school system of the Diocese of Memphis was honored June 26 by the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management during a banquet in Philadelphia. Steps the diocese took this decade to make Catholic schools accessible to inner-city children have attracted widespread interest.

Bishop J. Terry Steib, S.V.D. and Dr. Mary McDonald, Catholic School Superintendent, accepted the annual Best Practices Award, given by the Leadership Roundtable during its annual meeting at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for the school system's "excellence and visionary leadership in Catholic education."

The new-millennium, inner-city Catholic-schools' success story in Memphis encompasses:

• The reopening since 1999 of eight inner-city elementary schools shut down over recent decades; today they are called Jubilee Schools.

• The revitalization of two more inner-city elementary schools (urban-initiative schools) that were failing financially and enrollment-wise.

• The establishment on a firm footing of two inner-city high schools that some people in 1998 thought should be closed.

Of course, if the Memphis inner-city high schools were not thriving in 1998, one reason was that closing inner-city elementary schools deprived them of the feeder schools a high school requires for enrollment. The inner-city schools depended upon each other.

It is noteworthy that one Memphis diocesan inner-city high school today resembles what many nationwide call "Cristo Rey" schools. Students attend class four days a week, working one day weekly in a local business to earn much of their tuition. McDonald said these students "love their jobs." Moreover, "when you go into the school there is seriousness of purpose, and hope, and enthusiasm."

Bishop Steib accepted the award for the entire schools' staff. The diocese was "looking at the closure of schools," he told the Leadership Roundtable participants, but "we said no. We'll do better marketing." He said, "I wanted a new paradigm" _ away from simply maintaining schools where they were affordable and closing them elsewhere." That, the bishop added, is not "who we are as Christians."

The diocese's eight elementary Jubilee Schools "are needed today more than ever," Bishop Steib has said. He envisions the schools as "beacons of light for those who need them most." The Jubilee Schools, whose students include a great many non-Catholics, are so named because their reopenings commenced near the time of the Catholic Church's worldwide observance of a Jubilee of the Year 2000.

To accomplish the goal of reopening the inner city schools in Memphis, the diocese had to restore trust where trust was lost, secure funding from benefactors and businesses; and clarify a vision and create a focus.

"I have heard so many reasons that people give to fail," McDonald said, adding: "You need vision and focus, you need leadership and management, you need to create a culture of participation, of accountability, and you need a professional management system particular to Catholic schools."

Catholic News Service reported that during the April 2008 White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools, a moderator asked McDonald how she explains the Jubilee Schools' success. She responded that donors came forward; they remembered what Catholic schools did years ago for urban children and wanted the schools "to do it again." Of course, donor funding was necessary in part to establish the trust fund that provides tuition assistance for families that otherwise could not afford Catholic education.

Further ensuring accountability, she said, the Catholic schools office, following a three-year process, has been accredited by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as a school district. The standard of accountability entailed by this helps to ensure "a culture of continuous improvement for all the schools," McDonald commented.

The Memphis Catholic school system serves today as a model. McDonald frequently visits other dioceses to share what is happening. Furthermore, other dioceses send representatives to Memphis "to study us," she reported.

When the diocese started its Jubilee Schools, it hoped they would help "turn the brooding grounds of lost neighborhoods into breeding grounds for future productive members of society." For McDonald, the schools' success represents a "miracle in Memphis."

St. John School Recognizes Local Pastors

By Kristi Baird

What do pastors from St. John Catholic Church, Ambassadors for Christ Baptist Church, Church of the Living God, Greater New Salem Church, St. Augustine, and Maranatha Faith Temple all have in common? They all have young members of their congregation who attend St. John School, and they, along with several other local area pastors, participated in St. John Catholic School's Pastor Appreciation Day.

The students invited their pastors to this special day, made thank you cards, and toured their pastor around the school. Afterwards, students and their pastors enjoyed breakfast together.

Principal Teddi Niedzwiedz was delighted with the turnout. "St. John is a Catholic school, but the majority of our students are non-Catholic. We recognize our pastor every year, but we wanted to recognize the pastors of all of our students and let them know that we appreciate the work they do. We also wanted to share with them the great things we are doing here." The day closed with the principal and the pastors sharing special thoughts about the school and its students. Although the students belong to different churches and even different religions, everyone agrees that St. John Catholic School offers the children a wonderful, faith filled educational experience.