AUGUST 2019

ack to SCHOOL
Unleashing Catholic schools
A strategic vision for the future of education
BY VANESSA DENHA GARMO
For centuries, Catholic schools have prepared
boys and girls to become men and
women of virtue – to fully develop into
the person God created them to be – and to
joyfully embrace their vocations.
The Archdiocese of Detroit (AOD) is Unleashing
Catholic Schools through a recently
unveiled document.
“It was an outgrowth of Unleash the Gospels,
which is the strategic vision of Archbishop
Vigneron for the Archdiocese of Detroit. In
it, the Archbishop talks a lot about schools,”
said Kevin Kijewski, superintendent of schools
for the AOD. “This new document puts more
flesh on the bones regarding what we are going
to do to make our schools proudly Catholic,
academically successful, attainable to all and
sustainable for the future.”
Catholic education has created servant
leaders in the world and saints in life to come.
God calls children to become joyful missionary
disciples of Jesus Christ and the schools equip
them to do so. Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron
shares his vision for Catholic schools in the
document.
“This document demonstrates that this is
a partnership between the Archdiocese and
roughly 90 schools, partnering in various areas,”
said Kijewsi. “In terms of academic excellence and
STEM schools, the AOD will get involved to make
sure that the programs work. Under no circumstances
will we mandate for a school to do something
alone. It is either the Archdiocese taking on
a large-scale project or the Archdiocese partnering
with a school on a project.”
Recently, the AOD created the Principal Formation
Institute which is essentially principal
UNLEASHING OUR
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
A STRATEGIC VISION FOR THE FUTURE
OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT
UNLEASHING OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS | 1
school. So far, 26 highly qualified individuals participated
in the program over a series of six months
and since then three people have been placed as
principals from that program.
The AOD also issued new principal standards
and evaluation tools. “This helps our principals remain
strong in their leadership,” said Kijewski.
The AOD is also collaborating with the University
of Notre Dame. “This partnership will help
some of our schools become fully immersed academic
STEM schools,” said Kijewski.
STEM is the acronym for Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math. “Notre Dame has
already worked with 13 schools in the AOD.”
The plan is by the start of the 2020 school
year the AOD will have fully immersed STEM
schools that are fully Catholic.
The AOD is also hosting the Archbishop’s
Catechetical Day on September 27, which is an
outgrowth of the document. They expect all
3,000 educators to gather at the University of
Detroit to hear from Archbishop Vigneron and
national speakers on Catholic topics. “This is
designed to help them better communicate the
gospel to their students,” said Kijewski.
There are projects and initiatives for all the
Catholic schools in the AOD. “The ultimate
benefit for students is their final exam so when
they meet St. Peter at the gate will they pass or
fail and we want them to pass,” said Kijewski.
“We want our children to have a faith-filled
education where they get to know, love and
serve Jesus Christ and go out into the world to
be joyful disciples of Jesus Christ.”
The AOD is working on a strategic plan to
make Catholic schools affordable to anyone
who wants to attend. This is part of the sustainability
of the plan. “We want families to be able
to pay what they can afford,” said Kijewski.
“We need our Catholic schools more than ever
so that our young people have the vision that is
part of the mind of Jesus-Christ so they don’t slip
into a post Christian mentality about how all the
world fits together and the place they have in it.
Our children must grow and move forward with
the heart and mind of Christ,” wrote Archbishop
Vigneron in the document.
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22 CHALDEAN NEWS AUGUST 2019