Schools are part of 'Called' effort

Last summer, Sister Mary Jane Herb, IHM, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Albany Diocese, pledged to make "Called to be Church" the broad theme for the school year.

"During the course of the year, we read three books and then discussed how they could impact our schools," she said. "Reading these books helped our educators improve our awareness in the field of education, how to move from being good schools to great ones, and brought us insight by offering an excellent opportunity for continued growth and development."

The three books were "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, "Results Now" by Michael J. Schmoker and "The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth.

She also "encouraged the staff of our parish schools to become directly involved in their deanery and parish planning groups for the 'Called to be Church' initiative. There is a direct link between the initiative, and the operation and continued growth of our Catholic schools."

Accountability

This year, as school resumes, Sister Jane has expanded the "Called to be Church" theme to include accountability -- of educators and school leaders to parents, students and the larger Catholic community.

"Accountability is tied in with the 'Called to be Church' theme," she explained. "Parish staff and volunteers are working to establish their needs for the future. This includes supporting their Catholic schools. Because we are always striving to improve our schools, accountability to our parishes, parents and students is part of that process."

To that end, the diocesan Catholic Schools Office has initiated an "accountability report card" for all schools.

In touch

Sister Jane said that she will attend school board meetings around the Diocese this year, and schools will be "graded" on Catholic identity, academic programs, finances, enrollment and technical status.

"It won't be a real grade," she noted, "but it will help each school identify areas where improvement is needed."

She emphasized that the system is not designed to compare one school against another but to encourage growth and development in specific areas.

"We will provide statistics that will show each school how it is faring in its region or district, not how it is compared to other Catholic schools," she noted. "We want our schools to be the best that they can be. We will be asking the question, 'How can you improve what you do?' As we look forward to the future, we want our schools to continue to improve and grow."

(8/23/07)