Diocese of Palm Beach "Faith Inspiring Excellence" 2016 update

Catholic Schools Diocese of Palm Beach

ISSUE THREE

Faith Inspiring Excellence Strategic Vision 2020

Charting a Course for Excellence – Status Report 2016 The following is a brief summary of the 2015-16 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 are being developed for the Diocese of Palm Beach. The objective has been to create these standards using a Catholic worldview as our lens. It has been the goal of the three committees developing 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 second year through the Going Deeper program which each week includes a video broadcast, personal reflection and staff discussion questions.

All teachers in the diocese attended a Retreat Day in February led by Jonathan Doyle of Going Deeper. It 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 October, Encountering God’s Love in the Sacraments was presented. The Way, the Truth, and the Life: Freedom in Christ was presented in February.

The World Congress on Catholic Education: Educating Today and Tomorrow, A Renewing Passion was attended by Gary Gelo, Superintendent of Schools, as one of approximately 120 delegates from the United States. The meetings were held at the Vatican and Castel Gandolfo in November 2015. The gathering of approximately 6,000 participants from around the world was convened to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis, and the 25th anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution, Ex Corde Ecclesiae. By conducting this World Congress, the Congregation for Catholic Education at the Vatican wished to revive the commitment of the Church in the field of education.

Deacon Jaime Zapata of the diocesan School of Christian Formation shared information with school principals about the classes offered by his office. In addition, he presented an excellent seminar on Laudato Si’ at the principals meeting. Cathy Loh, Director of the Office of Marriage and Family, shared insights on the Synod on the Family and the World Meeting of Families, which was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Academic Excellence The Diocese of Palm Beach Guidelines for StandardsBased Instruction in Math and Religion were introduced to teachers for review during the 2015-16 school year and implementation in the 2016-17 school year.

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.

The Diocese of Palm Beach Guidelines for StandardsBased Instruction for English/Language Arts were being developed at the end of the 2015-16 school year to be introduced to teachers in 2016-17 and to be fully implemented by 2017-18.

Administrator and teacher teams from schools across the diocese were invited to attend a two-day summer institute, GPS: Navigating the Road to Academic Success, 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.

Testing coordinators from all schools attended a workshop by Tara Mathis of Houghton-Mifflin/Riverside 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 will be further reviewed and refined in 2016-17.

Topics for Administrators meetings included presentations and/or discussion on Catholic Values, a Perspective on Science and Theology (Laudato Si’), Adult Faith Development through the School of Christian Formation, World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, Diocese of Palm Beach Guidelines for StandardsBased Instruction, Financial Management and Budget Planning, Legal Issues, Technology and Digital Citizenship, Coding in the Classroom, Catholic Virtual School programs, and others.

The NCEA Lead. Learn. Proclaim. Award was presented to Jill Ingebritson, a 4th grade teacher at St. Ann Catholic School in West Palm Beach, during the National Catholic Educational Association Annual Convention in San Diego, CA in April. The award is equivalent to national teacher of the year recognition.

Iowa Assessment, a nationally recognized standardized testing program, is conducted in Catholic elementary schools in the Catholic Province of Miami (the seven dioceses of Florida.)

Diocesan percentile scores are slightly higher than the Province scores and well above the National scores. Note that a score in the 80th percentile indicates that our schools performed better than 80% of schools taking the assessment. ACT scores indicate that the composite scores for the three high schools are significantly higher than the scores for all schools in the State of Florida.

Operational Vitality The Second Collection for Catholic Schools, which is conducted in all parishes in the diocese each January, raised $133,115.16 to fund special projects in our Catholic schools. The funds are divided equally among the schools, resulting in about $8,300 per school. The collection is conducted each year just prior to Catholic Schools Week. During this two or three week period, families with children enrolled in Catholic schools were encouraged to wear buttons with the message “Ask Me About My Catholic School!”

The 27th Annual Lumen Christi Gala – Christ Our Light, Our Future was held in December 2015 at The Breakers in Palm Beach. Tim and Eileen Lewis were chairpersons of the event, which honored Ruby S. Rinker with the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award. The gala raises funds for scholarships to Catholic schools in the diocese. This year over $276,000 in scholarships were granted with each school awarding over $17,000 to deserving students. The diocese is grateful to the donors who make $969,973 in funds available for scholarships and tuition assistance through applications at individual diocesan schools.

Schools in the diocese received over $4 million in state scholarships through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarships, McKay Scholarships, the Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts and VPK funding. State funds assist 13% 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.

Elementary schools concluded a four-year strategic management and communication program with consultants from Catholic School Management, Inc. who assisted schools in reviewing foundational documents, developing strategic plans, creating or enhancing communication and marketing plans, as well as enrollment management and other areas.

Life Safety Solutions continues to provide our schools with CPR/AED/Epipen/First Aid training for all school employees. This year, Life Safety Solutions partnered with RETA Security. During the 2016-17 school year they will be working together to provide safety and security assessments at all school properties. This will assist our schools in developing short and long term plans for addressing the implementation of their recommendations. This will be done to enhance and improve the current procedures already in place in our schools, as well as to review crisis plans for emergency situations. To further this effort, the diocese will be 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.

“Our son was awarded the Lester N. Stockard Scholarship, which made it possible for him to attend a Catholic school. He is thriving in all areas.

With the help of his little sister, also enrolled in the school, they have inspired us as a family to be more open with our faith and solidify the Catholic expression of our lives. The impact of attending Catholic school and our parish has opened our son up in ways we didn’t expect. This education and all of the positive impacts would not be possible without this scholarship.” - Parent of 3rd Grade Student

Governance and Leadership School Advisory Councils 1.0 Workshops, conducted by Richard Burke of Catholic School Management, Inc., were hosted for northern schools by John Carroll Catholic High School and for southern schools by Saint Juliana Catholic School. The sessions provided Council members with background information on boards and councils in general and specifics on how School Advisory Councils operate within the diocese.

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 continued in 2015-16 with two teachers from diocesan schools earning their Master’s degree in Educational Leadership this summer.

The opportunity was presented to teacher-leaders interested in discerning whether or not they have a vocation as a school administrator to apply to the Gateway Catholic School Leadership Academy at Saint Louis University.

Partial scholarships are available through the diocese.

During the 2016 NCEA Annual Convention, a session on Why and How Is Social Media Marketing Effective was presented by Jennifer Trefelner, Director of Institutional Advancement at John Carroll Catholic High School.

Jennifer is also the Social Media Coordinator for the Office of Catholic Schools.

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