Faith Inspiring Excellence Office of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Palm Beach Issue Four

Strategic Vision 2020 Charting a Course of Excellence – Status Report 2017

The following is a brief summary of the 2016-17 activities of the Office of Catholic Schools (OCS) and individual Catholic schools in relation to the implementation of the Strategic Vision 2020 that was promulgated in September 2013. Strategic Vision 2020: Charting a Course for Excellence is available at:

http://www.diocesepbschools.org/vision

Mission and Catholic Identity

Guidelines for Standards-Based Instruction in Math, English/Language Arts and Religion have been developed for the Diocese of Palm Beach. The objective was to create these standards using a Catholic worldview as our lens. Three committees were formed and developed the guidelines to incorporate Gospel values of faith, hope and love into all academic instruction as Catholic schools in the diocese seek to form the whole child.

Weekly faith formation for teachers and staff was offered for the third year through the Going Deeper program which includes a weekly video broadcast, personal reflection and staff discussion questions. The programs are prepared by Jonathan Doyle of Being Catholic/Australia, who was also the keynote speaker at the National Catholic Educational Association Annual Convention in St. Louis in April 2017.

All teachers in the diocese attended a Retreat Day in February led by John Findlater. In his presentation entitled The Prophet Margin: Making Your Catholic School Classroom a Dangerous Place to Be, he covered topics such as: What does Jesus call us to do for students in today's Catholic school? No matter what grade or subject you teach, students are not who we were when we were their age! Can we summon the courage and creativity, the passion and power to make a difference for all our students, no matter their socio-economic background or educational skill level? The presentation received one of the highest ratings of any professional development days conducted by the Office of Catholic Schools.

The Sophia Institute provided two workshops for teachers, administrators and religious education staff at the Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center. In September, The Story of Love and Mercy, The Story of Salvation was presented to 60 teachers and catechists from 16 schools/parishes. Encountering the Person of Jesus was presented in January to 41 teachers from 17 schools/parishes.

Each participant was given the background knowledge, teaching strategies, and classroom-ready lesson plans they needed to more effectively engage their students with the Catholic faith. Teachers’ comments included: “Content was relevant and focused on current and timely developments in the Church. I also gained practical ideas and lessons I can use in my class;” and “Great theological discussion and engaging activities.”

In April, Principals and other administrators attended a retreat day led by Vilma Angulo entitled, In Tune with the Heart of God. St. Joan of Arc Parish and School in Boca Raton hosted the retreat at the new Mercy Center on campus, which was sponsored by Brian Murphy of Sadlier Publishing.

Academic Excellence

Iowa Assessment, a nationally recognized standardized testing program, was conducted in Catholic elementary schools in the Catholic Province of Miami (the seven dioceses of Florida.) The Diocese of Palm Beach percentile scores are higher than the Province scores and well above the National scores. Note that a score in the 78th percentile indicates that the Diocese of Palm Beach schools performed better than 78% of schools taking the assessment. ACT scores indicate that the subject area and composite scores for the three diocesan high schools are significantly higher than the scores for all schools in the State of Florida.

The Diocese of Palm Beach Guidelines for Standards-Based Instruction for English/Language Arts were finalized in 2016-17 and will be implemented during the 2017-18 school year. The Diocese of Palm Beach Guidelines for Standards-Based Instruction in Math and Religion were implemented during the 2016-17 school year.

Administrator and teacher teams from schools across the diocese were invited to attend a three-day Summer Leadership Institute, Getting Focused: From Diagnosis to Action, conducted by Christel-Clear Learning Innovations in cooperation with the Palm Beach County School District and Title IIA program. The institute was designed to assist educators in collecting and analyzing data to develop SMART goals for their schools. The institutes were hosted by St. Juliana Catholic School.

Testing coordinators from all schools attended a workshop by Janette Sanger of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on using data from the Iowa Assessment to improve teaching and learning in our schools.

Five schools were involved in piloting the Teacher Assessment Program (TAP) which will be used in our schools across the Diocese for teacher and classroom observations. The program was reviewed and refined in 2016-17. Principals received training for implementation of the program in 2017-18.

Topics for Administrators meetings included presentations and/or discussion on Apple Programs for Education, Step Up for Students, Healthy Aquatics, Finance and Accounting Procedures, Legal Updates, Standardized Testing – Formative and Summative Assessments, and Teacher Assessment Program (TAP).

All novice teachers and teachers new to the diocese participated in a mentorship program that provided support and professional development guidance that enhances teaching practices and student achievement.

Aquaponics Learning Labs were introduced in six schools: All Saints Catholic School, Sacred Heart Catholic School, St. Clare Catholic School, St. Juliana Catholic School, St. Luke Catholic School and Cardinal Newman High School. The program was implemented by Healthy Aquatics and designed by marine biologists, aquaculturists, and veterinarians to allow teachers to enhance traditional learning by placing tools, technology, and live organisms directly in the hands of the students. Merging the cutting edge sciences of aquaculture and hydroponics, this program’s multidisciplinary approach builds a teaching foundation for young students, while also serving as an in-depth learning tool for more advanced students. This provides elementary, middle, and high school students with the opportunity to actively participate in STEM-based learning while serving as mini laboratory system in the classroom. Aquaponics systems were set up in classrooms and maintained by Healthy Aquatics staff. Healthy Aquatics also provided professional development opportunities for teachers. The diocese is grateful to the Samuel J. and Connie M. Frankino Charitable Foundation for its support of this program.

Governance and Leadership

St. Luke Catholic School joined the Notre Dame ACE Academies network of schools, which was founded at the University of Notre Dame as a response to the U.S. Bishops' call for a “new model of sponsorship and collaboration” between Catholic institutions of higher education and parish schools. The schools’ relationship with the University of Notre Dame began with an invitation from Bishop Barbarito to the ACE program to create and support a partnership with St. Luke Catholic School. ACE provides structured and comprehensive support to principals and teachers to foster growth in critical areas, especially Catholic identity, advancement, and teaching and learning. Throughout the partnership, the pastor retains ultimate responsibility for the school; however the pastor delegates certain executive responsibilities to a regional board of limited jurisdiction responsible for: 1. Advising and supporting the school leaders in strategic planning, school management, and teacher evaluation; 2. Supervising, evaluating, and selecting school leaders; and 3. Overseeing school finances. The Notre Dame ACE Academies initiative is an innovative model of Catholic schooling using research-proven methods to address every aspect of schooling.

New principal orientation is conducted each Fall for new administrators from the seven Dioceses of Florida.

The partnership with the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program at the University of Notre Dame continues with two teachers from Diocesan schools, being selected to pursue their Master’s degree in Educational Leadership beginning in June 2017.

During the 2016-17 school year, one teacher from the Diocese participated in the Gateway Catholic School Leadership Academy at Saint Louis University. A partial scholarship was provided by the Diocese.

A session on How to Market Your School During Catholic Schools Week and Year-Round Using the Resources and Tools Available Through NCEA was presented by Jennifer Trefelner, Director of Institutional Advancement at John Carroll High School during the 2017 NCEA Annual Convention. Jennifer is also the Online Communication Consultant for the Office of Catholic Schools and serves on the NCEA Marketing Communication Advisory Council.

Operational Vitality

Marie Privuznak retired in January from her position as Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the diocese. The Diocese is grateful for her 43 years of service as a teacher, principal and diocesan administrator. She said, “Preparing tomorrow’s Catholic leaders today has been a life-long passion for me. How fortunate that my dream became a reality!”

In July, the Office of Catholic Schools welcomed to the staff, Mr. John Clarke as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. Mr. Clarke has more than 20 years of experience in Catholic schools as a teacher and administrator.

The Annual Second Collection for Catholic Schools, which is conducted in all parishes in the diocese each January, raised $145,490 to fund needs-based scholarships in our Catholic schools. The funds are divided equally among the schools, resulting in about $8,550 per school. The collection is conducted each year just prior to Catholic Schools Week.

The 28th Annual Lumen Christi Scholarship Gala – Catholic Schools Forming Future Leaders was held in December 2016 at The Breakers in Palm Beach. The gala supports Catholic school scholarships. Mark and Karen Rodgers were chairpersons of the event, which honored Marie Privuznak and Denis Hamel with the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award. This year more than $286,000 in needs-based scholarships were granted, with each school awarding more than $17,900 to deserving students.

The diocese is grateful to the donors who made $1,158,155 in funds available during the 2016-17 school year for scholarships and tuition assistance through applications at individual diocesan and parish schools.

Schools in the diocese received more than $6 million in state scholarships through the Florida Tax Credit, McKay, Gardiner, and Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten scholarship programs in the state. State funds assist 15% of students enrolled in the Diocese of Palm Beach.

Workshops on budgeting and financial management were conducted by the Diocesan Finance Office for bookkeepers and administrators. Budget reviews were conducted by the Diocesan Finance Office and the Office of Catholic Schools for the three high schools, 8 elementary schools and two preschools.

Life Safety Solutions continues to provide our schools with CPR/AED/Epipen/First Aid training for all school employees.

Life Safety Solutions partnered with RETA Security to provide physical security assessments at all school properties. They are assisting our schools to develop short and long-term plans to implement their recommendations. This will be done to enhance and improve the current procedures already in place in our schools, as well as to develop and implement revised emergency operation plans (EOP). To further this effort, the Diocese is providing up to $1,000,000 in grant assistance to the schools for safety and security enhancements. This is being done in addition to the annual facility reviews conducted by our schools in conjunction with the Diocesan Office of Building and Construction and the Office of Risk Management. Each school will receive training on its revised EOP, including fire/tornado drills, lockdown and evacuation procedures.

In February, school administrators attended the Florida Catholic Conference School Administrators’ Conference in Orlando. The conference theme was “Together in Christ, We Serve All Children.” The conference offered keynote and breakout sessions pertinent to the administrators leading the Catholic schools from all seven dioceses in the state of Florida.

The Office of Catholic Schools and Catholic Charities worked together to provide a training session in Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). The workshop was offered to about 30 participants from schools, parishes, and ministries of the Diocese on February 10 at Cardinal Newman High School. The presenter was Dr. Laurence Miller of Miller Psychological Associates in Boca Raton. The CISM Team will be available to schools and parishes to respond to crisis situations.

New facilities will expand our ability to serve students. Sacred Heart Catholic School and Parish finished construction of Founders Hall, which includes a gymnasium for student use. St. Joan of Arc Catholic School and Parish also completed an expansion of their campus, which included a new Mercy Center, Parish Gazebo, Palm Court, athletic field and playground.