Office for Schools
Diocese of San Diego ~ January 2017
Happy New Year, America’s Finest Teachers!
January is a big month for our Catholic schools. It signals both a local and national promotional push of the value added to Catholic education via Catholic Schools Week, celebrated January 29 through February 4. In order to advance our schools with greater collective intention, I think one of New Year’s traditions offers brilliant timing.
Are you a New Year’s resolution maker? You know how it goes. We make promises meant to be broken, like exercising more and eating less! If you are looking for a promise with meaning that will impact both your personal life and professional performance, try making prayer your priority. The power of prayer, as C.S. Lewis once noted, is that it doesn’t change God, but rather, it changes us. Prayer can be a powerfully transforming agent in our lives. On a personal level, we gain heightened awareness of our love and belonging to God and to others. We become more of the persons we are intended to be. On a professional level, prayer triggers two essential values needed to move our Catholic schools to the next level: trust and transparency.
It is clear that Catholic schools need broader support than the tuition-driven system that currently exists. In order to garner that support, we need to be more open about our results. Benefactors want to be crystal clear on our schools’ outcomes and plans for continued improvement. The same could be said for prospective parents considering Catholic education for their children. We need to back our statements about quality. This requires trust. It requires transparency.
In prayer, there is built-in trust that God already knows us better than we know ourselves. That same trust should extend to the entire faith community of God’s people. A collaborative Catholic school culture points to the notion that we are “in it to win it” together—from teacher to teacher and from school to school. Transparency in prayer means that God knows us for all that we are and for all that we are not. In one of my recent PD feeds through Twitter, Education Next suggests that educational effectiveness will win the long race against a school’s reputation, price tag, names of famous alums, or how hard it is to get into. This will be predicated on our schools’ ability to give others a transparent look into our quality.
As teachers, you are on the front line of impacting the lives of our students in the classroom every day. Our church and our world are better because of your good work. To keep that needle moving in the right direction, make prayer a priority in 2017.
In Mission,
John & the OFS Team
Did You Know...
- We have established the Catholic Special Education Fund at the Diocese! This fund will facilitate the inclusion of children with disabilities and supports special education in Catholic schools within the Diocese of San Diego. More details to follow.
- The second STAR window will be January 9 - February 3 (extended testing window). Please contact Matthew Cordes if you have any questions: mcordes@sdcatholic.org
- We are announcing our 1st Annual Diocese of San Diego Leadership Awards! Please see the information below and complete nominations by February 28, 2017.
- The schools with the highest percentage of ticket sales for the Catholic Schools' Night at the Gulls (see flyer below to buy tickets) will have students invited to participate in a high-five tunnel. One lucky student will ride the zamboni during intermission. As of 1/4/17, Sacred Heart Coronado is in the lead with Stella Maris Academy following closely behind.
- Our next Learning Support Meeting (see flyer below) will be held on January 18. Beth Foraker, the founder of the National Catholic Board on Full Inclusion, will be presenting to our teachers and administrators!
- The OFS has established its First Annual CSW 5th Grade Essay Contest in partnership with the Serra Club. Please see the details below. All essays are due by January 20.
Diocesan Collaboration Opportunities
Math Articulation ~ High Schools & Elementary Schools Invited
ELA Articulation ~ High Schools & Elementary Schools Invited
Learning Support Meeting
Professional Learning Portal
Celebrating Our Catholic Schools
View School Tweets from December
Sharing Best Practices Across the Diocese
A snapshot from Jacqueline Renteria's kindergarten classroom at OLSH. She engages the class in word study to build vocabulary for her EL students. Many teachers have been working with Instructional Coach, Mary Cordeiro, to share best practices.
1st Annual Diocesan Awards
OFS First Annual 5th Grade Essay Contest!
Other Important News
2017 Catholic Schools Week
January 29-February 4, 2017 ~Share your #CSW17 Activities on OFS Facebook and Twitter!
Daily Themes for 2017
Saturday, February 4 ~ Celebrating Families ~ Catholic Schools' Night at the San Diego Gulls ~ The schools with the highest percentage of ticket sales will win game opportunities!
#CSW17 - A Teacher's Guide to Promoting Your School
With Catholic Schools Week coming up in a few weeks, the Office for Schools would like to share some ideas to help you promote your school.
1. Ask your parents to post on Facebook
Below are daily prompts that can help guide their posts and you could offer a small reward for the children if their parents respond to the 6 posts. Be sure to have them link to your school and our Diocesan page when they post! https://www.facebook.com/sdcatholicschools/
- How has your student’s Catholic School experience brought him/her closer to the person of Jesus Christ?
- How has your student’s Catholic School experience developed a more caring and informed citizen?
- How has your student’s Catholic School helped your student to reach his/her potential?
- How has your student’s Catholic School experience developed leadership skills in your child?
- How has your student’s Catholic School experience developed 21st century skills that will lead to success in life?
- How has your student’s Catholic School experience been personalized to meet his/her unique needs?
2. Have your students tell you why your class rocks
- If you teach 5th grade, have the students participate in the #CSW17 Essay Contest
- Create a wall in your classroom where students can write about their best experiences using the above prompts
- Have students create ways to spread the good news of your school
3. Use the NCEA #CSW17 resources
- NCEA has created a whole bank of Catholic Schools Week resources
- NCEA #CSW17 Resources
- You work hard. Students work hard. Families work hard to send their students. Celebrate the amazing gift of Catholic Education.
We hope that these ideas help you spread the good news of Catholic Education, your school, and specifically, your classroom. Thank you for all that you do!
WCEA Website
The mission of WCEA is to promote quality Catholic education for students in our member elementary and secondary schools through an accrediting process that assures the primacy of faith formation and educational excellence.
NCEA Website
Rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) is a professional membership organization that provides leadership, direction, and service to fulfill the evangelizing, catechizing, and teaching mission of the Church.
OFS Google Drive
Shared Office for Schools Google Drive
Links to Previous OFS Newsletters
Contact Information
Email: ahodges@sdcatholic.org
Website: http://www.sdcatholic.org
Location: 3888 Paducah Drive, San Diego, CA, United States
Phone: 858-490-8240
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sdcatholicschools/
Twitter: @DioceseSDschool