Catholic Diocese of Jackson- Office of Education 2019-2020 Annual Report

TROPER LAUNNA

0202-9102

DIOCESE OF JACKSON OFFICE OF EDUCATION

Year in Review The 2019-2020 school year was one like we have never experienced before.

Accreditation to Distance Learning- What have we learned?

NOTABLE EVENTS

August 5, 2019 Diocesan Faith Formation

When school started in August of 2019,

Day with Speaker

no one could have anticipated the year

Jonathan Doyle.

we would have and the wild ending we would all experience. Despite the unexpected ending, the Diocese of Jackson- Office of Education had a busy and productive school year, making progress in many of the areas that were outlined in last year’s Annual Report.

October 6-9, 2019 Cognia External Accreditation Review Occured Jaunary 23, 2020 Dioces of Jackson received Accredited Status March 16, 2020 In person classes transitioned to distance learning.

We started the school year with our annual Diocesan

Faith

Formation

Day,

where

we

gathered teachers from across the diocese for a day of prayer, reflection, and fellowship. We welcomed speaker Jonathan Doyle, who spoke to

all

of

our

teachers,

staff

members,

and

administrators about our unique calling to the vocation of Catholic Education. Jonathan’s witty sense

of

humor

and

inspiring

message

left

everyone recommitted to their calling and ready to begin a great school year.

In October, we welcomed a team of six leaders in Catholic education to complete our Cognia Accreditation External Review. Over three days, the group visited schools, spoke with stakeholders, and reviewed a plethora of supporting evidence that our schools put together. The team was very impressed with the direction our schools are moving and provided great insight into ways we can continue to grow. Keep

reading

to

learn

recommendations . The team that

all

schools within

more

about

recommended

the Diocese

of

the to

details

the

of

Cognia

Jackson

be

their Global

report

and

Commission

accredited

by

the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which is the accrediting arm of Cognia.

In February of 2020, our school principals and early learning center directors came together for our annual retreat. Administrators worked with guest speaker Lisa Corona to focus on the concept of Servant Leadership and our call to serve those in our community. During our business meeting at the retreat, we discussed new and exciting initiatives, including the Sister Thea Bowman Art’s Collaborative, our Emerging Leaders Program, and the process we’ll be using for strategic planning.

You can read more about all of these initiatives in the coming pages.

IN THIS REPORT: Class of 2020 Accomplishments

Summary of Accreditation Report & Plans for

Summary of Distance Learning

Implementation

Survey Results

Curriculum & Instruction Update

Review of our Catholic Identity Programming

Plans for Next Year

Then, as we all know, the end of the school year took an unexpected turn with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the urging of public health officials and the order of Governor Tate Reeves, schools in the state transitioned to distance learning, and our Catholic schools followed suit. Teachers, administrators, and staff members immediately mobilized and adapted to our new virtual reality.

While there were challenges to be addressed, our teachers worked diligently to ensure that students experienced as little disruption to their learning as possible. Once the quarter ended, a survey was sent to parents to understand what worked, what did not work, and how we can improve our use of distance learning tools in the future. Some highlights from those surveys can be found on the next page. We are confident that the valuable feedback from all of our stakeholders will help us better meet all of our students’ needs in the year to come. While we plan to be in-person, we are also planning to supplement that learning with aspects of virtual education year-round to make their experience even better!

Finally, we rounded out the year with non-traditional celebrations of our graduates across the Diocese. While the ceremonies may have looked different, the graduating class of 2020 continued our long tradition of academic excellence and personal development. Did you know that individuals in the Class of 2020 completed an average of 159 service hours this year? That’s a total of 28,050 hours of service to others. In addition to their service to others, their hard work allowed them to accept a total of $7.5 million in scholarships! The exciting plans for our graduates include prestigious schools such as the Rochester Institute of Technology and West Point Military Academy. The class of 2020 even includes one student, Grayson Foley, who has accepted his calling to the priesthood, and will attend St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, Louisiana.

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e c n a t s i D

LEARNING HOW DID WE DO?

85%

839 PARENTS COMPLETED OUR DISTANCE LEARNING SURVEY AT THE END OF MAY.

62% OF PARENTS WHO RESPONDED STATED THAT THEIR CHILD'S ONLINE ACTIVITIES CHALLENGED THEM TO THINK CREATIVELY.

OF PARENTS WHO RESPONDED STATED THAT THEIR SCHOOLS MET THEIR EXPECTATIONS IN PROVIDING CONTINUOUS EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS.

2020-2021

Goals: 1.

2.

3.

One consistent platform for each grade-level Stronger & more consistent communication Integration of technology tools starting the first day of school

CONGRATULATI ONS

CLASS OF 2020 176 Graduates...

That's an average of

... completed

28,050

159 hours per student.

HOURS OF SERVICE TO OTHERS.

& ... accepted

$7,513,887 IN SCHOLARSHIPS.

That's an average of

$42,692.54 per student.

CATHOLIC IDENTITY MAINTAINING CATHOLIC IDENTITY DURING COVID19 Our Catholic Identity is the underpinning of everything that happens here in our Catholic schools. Our mission is to be schools that live the two great commandments: love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and love our neighbors as ourselves. We seek to accomplish this through daily prayer, Mass, retreats, and service to others. It is our objective to help our faculty and students grow in faith through these activities. Additionally, we provide units of study on various Catholic faith themes for our faculty/staff. We believe that providing faculty/staff with education about our Catholic faith benefits our students by underscoring the importance of our baptismal duty to evangelize by word and action.

As many have noted in looking back on the 2019-2020 school year, we faced enormous challenges in the final stretch; however, with the strong foundation our Catholic Identity laid at the beginning of the school year and God’s infinite grace, we finished strong.

During the 2019-2020 school year, we studied the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. As the basis of our study, we used the texts Virtuous Leadership: An Agenda for Personal Excellence by Alexandre Havard, and The Virtue Driven Life by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R, in addition to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, documents from the USCCB and writings from Pope Francis. We examined these virtues by using the parables in the bible and the living example of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. We learned the profound connection between these virtues is the love God has for us, His creation, as he infused our souls with the ability to act as His children and to merit eternal life with Him forever. We are thankful for the opportunity to prepare ourselves for the calamities of this year by studying faith, hope, and love. As we face the challenges of our new reality, we needed to understand the depth of God’s love for us and to recognize that He has already given us the tools to cope with the pandemic of COVID-19 and the widespread social unrest and division plaguing our country presently.

CATHOLIC IDENTITY

The Office of Catholic Education chose the theme Celebrating Humanity for the 2020-2021 school year. Each letter in the word “humanity” represents an action we will study to apply the teachings of the virtues studied last year, and make our schools the centers of peace and justice Christ intended as he taught the Beatitudes at the Sermon on the Mount.

Because we have been unable to gather in person for quite some time, we have joined with the Office of Faith Formation to offer a virtual collection of resources that will help our faculty and staff address the immediate concerns of caring for one another and seeing ourselves as brothers and sisters in Christ. These resources include online sessions from Roy Petitfils, a Catholic author, speaker, and psychotherapist; Katie Prejean McGrady, an international Catholic speaker and author; Deacon Art Miller, author, radio host, revivalist, retired businessman, and the Director of the Office for Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Hartford; and Dr. Christopher Baglow, Director, Science & Religion Initiative for the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. Each of these highly engaging speakers will inspire our schools as faith communities that will help unite the people of God in love.

Without a doubt, we will continue to face challenges that present obstacles to the core of what makes us Catholic: the ability to gather as school communities for Mass, share a meal at a retreat, or hug a friend who needs comfort. However, with a little creativity, God’s grace, and your prayers, we will overcome these obstacles and become the people that God intended us to be.

DIOCESAN FAITH FORMATION DAY with Jonathan Doyle Here is what some of our teachers, adminsitrators, and staff members said about our 2019 Faith Formation Day: "Sharing the day with Jonathan Doyle was a wonderful way to start the school year. I left inspired and motivated with love for my vocation as a Catholic school educator. Thank you!"

"Jonathan Doyle was the perfect speaker this year.

His energy and spirit helped kickoff the year on a positive note. My staff keeps referring to Tools and Fuels that will help us all have a wonderful year."

ON A FIVE-POINT SCALE, TEACHERS GAVE OUR SPEAKER AN AVERAGE RATING OF

4.67

Accreditaiton Report Overview THE DIOCESE OF JACKSONOFFICE OF EDUCATION HOSTED AN EXTRAL REVIEW TEAM OCTOBER 6-9, 2019 On October 6-9, 2019, the Diocese of JacksonOffice of Education hosted six leaders in Catholic Education from across the region to conduct an external review of our school system and our fulfillment of the criteria for high-quality schools as outlined by Cognia.

Sandra

Leatherwood,

Superintendent

of

Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Charleston South Carolina, led the team. She was assisted by

Diane

Catholic

Starokvich,

Schools

for

Superintendent the

Archdiocese

of of

Atlanta, Lenora Patterson, Director of NonPublic

School

Lawrenz,

Services

for

Cognia,

Continuous

Lisa

Improvement

Coordinator for the Diocese of Birmingham, and Vince Aquila, Principal of Holy Spirit Regional Alabama.

Catholic

School

in

Huntsville,

The team arrived on Sunday, October 6, and were welcomed with an opening presentation of the Diocese of Jackson- Office of Education’s Continuous Improvement Journey. Office of Education staff members, and accreditation steering committee member, Joni House, highlighted current projects and initiatives within the diocese and answered questions the team had from the evidence that was submitted and reviewed before their arrival. The team then spent the next two days interviewing stakeholders, including parents, teachers, students, administrators, and advisory council members from all of our schools, and they conducted sixty classroom observations across six of our schools during their visit.

What stood out to the team the most was the strong sense of purpose and Catholic identity within all of our schools. The report stated, “There was a high level of confirmation from all stakeholders that schools across the diocese carry out the purpose statement. A safe, nurturing, and caring learning environment is embedded and reflective of the culture of the schools’ Catholic identity.”

"A safe, nurturing, and caring learning environment is embedded and reflective of the culture of the schools

’

Catholic identity"

The visiting team praised many of the initiatives and programs across the diocese and highlighted areas for improvement. Areas identified as priorities for development were providing programs and services for learners’ educational futures and career planning, implementing a standardized process to identify and address the specialized need of learners, and providing induction, mentoring, and coaching programs that ensure all staff members have the knowledge and skills to improve student performance and organizational effectiveness..

Following the visit, a Diocesan Improvement Committee was formed to begin addressing the findings from the report. The committee consists of the original accreditation steering committee members, Cathy Cook, Karla Luke, Stephanie Brown, Joni House, and Jules Michele, as well as Karla McHan, principal of Vicksburg Catholic School, Sarah Brock, a teacher at St. Joseph in Madison, and Gail Griggs, a teacher at St. Francis of Assisi in Greenwood. While COVID-19 has put some of our plans on hold, we look forward to continuing the great work that this committee has already started.

Programs Created to Address Accreditation Report Findings: Emerging Leaders A PROGRAM TO IDENTIFY AND TRAIN CURRENT FACULTY AND STAFF INTERESTED IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION. LAUNCHING FALL 2020

New Teacher Training AN ONLINE TRAINING COURSE THAT WILL BE COMPLETED BY ALL NEW TEACHERS ACROSS THE DIOCESE TO ENSURE THEY ARE SET UP FOR SUCCESS AT THEIR NEW SCHOOL. LAUNCHING FALL 2020

The Sister Thea Bowman Arts Collaborative THIS PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MISSISSIPPI ARTS COMMISSION WILL PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON ARTS INTEGRATION AND CREATIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE CRITICAL THINKING, ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY, AND FURTHER DEVELOP 21ST CENTURY COMMUNICATION SKILLS WHILE FOCUSING ON THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE ARTS AND OUR CATHOLIC IDENTITY.

Update from the 20182019 Annual Report InAugustof2019weoutlined fourimprovementprioritiesfor the2019-2020schoolyear.

How much progress did we make in these areas?

In August of 2019, our annual report oulined four priorities for the 2019-2020 school year. They were:

Increase the number of students meeting the ACT Readiness Benchmark in all four subject areas.

Better utilize differentiated instruction in each classroom to help all students meet his/her individual potential.

Strengthen relationships with and knowledge of the Catholic faith with all stakeholders.

Better demonstrate and communicate the contributions of Catholic Schools to the communities of Mississippi.

As everyone is aware, the outbreak of COVID-19 shifted almost everyone’s priorities. To ensure transparency and continued communication, we wanted to give an honest update on where we landed with the priorities outlined above.

First, due to the closure of our schools, students were unable to take the ACT Aspire standardized tests. Because we do not have the data, we cannot determine if we adequately improved in this area. Many schools did administer smaller interim ACT Aspire tests throughout the year, and data was promising. Members of the OCE staff also conducted in-depth data dives into the ACT Aspire summative and interim results with some of our middle school teachers to help them better address the needs of students.

Our priority to better differentiate our instruction is the one where we gained the most traction and saw the best results. According to survey data, elementary, middle, and high school students all saw favorable increases in response to the survey items relating to completing assignments that meet their individual learning needs. We also saw an increase in positive responses to survey questions related to making connections from content to real-world experiences. Making these connections was one strategy that our teachers focused on to make learning unique and applicable to all of our students’ individual experiences.

We also set out to strengthen relationships with and knowledge of the Catholic faith with all of our stakeholders. Our Catholic identity was one area that was praised by our visiting accreditation team. Conscious efforts were made to strengthen the sense

of

standards

Catholic that

identity

were

with

staff

implemented

members, this

and

year

all

of

the curriculum

highlighted opportunities for

the integration of the Catholic faith into core content areas.

Our final improvement priority related to marketing and communication. While we did make some efforts in marketing in promoting our accreditation efforts and highlighting

the

works

of

our

schools

in

the

Mississippi

Catholic

Newspaper, this is one improvement priority that will need our continued attention moving forward.

202

LOOKING AHEAD

As we all know, the 2020-2021 school year has started unlike any before. With new guidelines to address the COVID-19 pandemic, our schools may look different, but our mission remains the same.

We are excited about the new opportunities and challenges that await us. Based on the events of the last school year, the findings from our accreditation report, and many conversations with teachers, students, and parents, we have outlined four new priorities for the 2020-2021 school year. With a focus on these areas, we hope to meet immediate needs while also laying the groundwork for even more growth in the future.

2020-2021 IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES Continued transparent communication regarding our COVID-19 response

Targeted and personalized professional development delivered directly to teachers

Integration of technology to support in-person and distance learning programs Continued focus on fostering a strong sense of Catholic Identity, particularly in virtual environments

The Catholic Diocese of Jackson is home to thirteen school campuses including one inter-parish high school serving students grades seven through twelve, three unit schools serving students in pre-k through twelfth grade, and eight parish elementary schools, six of which serve students up to sixth grade, and three of which serve students through eighth grade. We are also proud to have three early childhood learning centers with plans for two more underway.

Holy Family Early Learning Center