There’s an old, tattered and faded poster somewhere out there, depicting Jesus with a caption, something about this teacher has been in Catholic schools for 2,000 years.
Our letter grading system hasn’t been around 2,000 years (dating instead to the late 19th century), but even with a modern shift of some schools to standards proficiency grading, it’s hard to shift many people’s expectations of A, B, C, D and F. So why celebrate four Fs?
All over the world, wherever you find the Salesian religious order working with young people, you will see the four pillars on which they build their schools and oratories: a Home that welcomes, a School that prepares for life, a Church that evangelizes and a Playground where friends meet.
One parish administrator I worked with as a principal thought that referencing Salesian pillars would be confusing to our families, since—besides myself—we did not identify as Salesian. Seeing that my emphasis was being lost, I turned to the late Fr. John Grinell, SDB, known to love wordplay, for different phraseology.
I’m sure he appreciated the irony of promoting Fs in schools, however, when Catholic school communities—teachers, administrators and families—reflect on their own school, I think they can quickly recognize that every great Catholic school is one of Family, centered in Faith, preparing students for the Future, and a place where we have Fun.
For those of us who appreciate having a theme for the year (whether in the classroom or an overarching theme for the whole school year) a catchy phrase like Family, Faith, Future, Fun is something we can hang our hat on. It becomes a simple way for us to reflect on things, not too dissimilar than a mirror. How does a situation from the day look, when reflected through the mirror?
Did this interaction with a student build up a family atmosphere?
Where was Jesus at snack time or on the playground today?
Did that learning activity help prepare my students for the future?
Did we laugh as a class today (or as colleagues)?
Catholic schools everywhere pride themselves—and advertise—their family environment, one where all are welcome. We build friendships in the classroom, work with families to accommodate our students’ needs and host community gatherings. We are smaller, close-knit communities who rally together when tragedy strikes; when we hear of bullying, we bring sides together to build bridges; we celebrate diversity with school-wide events of Dia de Los Muertos and Chinese lantern building to recognize the Lunar New Year. And in our midst, Jesus is with us.
Centered in faith, we remember an approach often attributed to St. Francis: preach the Gospel always; when necessary, use words. By the way we live our lives, we model what it is to be a Christian. My first superintendent as a principal, Br. William Dygert, CSC, advised us to ask teacher applicants this question first, “Do you love kids?” If we don’t love children, the way we treat them will not be with the love that Jesus modeled for us.
And since we love our young people, we provide the essential parts of our faith that bring us closer to Christ: we celebrate weekly Mass, solemnities and saint feast days; we pray novenas and teach our children how to share intentions and pray for each other; we bring apologies and forgiveness into conflict and book our priests for twice-a-year Reconciliation; we encourage food drives for a local food pantry, and our high schoolers take a break from classes for schoolwide service days.
We pray to begin the day, at the beginning of each class in high school, before snack and meals (and after, especially in second and third grades), and close the day with prayer. Even our coaches begin practice with prayer! Fr. John Serio, SDB, half-joked that, at school, we pray more than Muslims.
And this is our foundation.
We’ve all heard of that one “Catholic” school... over there... that has stopped going to weekly Mass, allows non-Catholic students to receive Eucharist and has students preach the homily. St. Don Bosco said that a Catholic school without music is a school without a soul. Yet, a Catholic school that has perhaps gradually, over time, made one accommodation to appease a secular preference, and then another sensitivity adjustment, until... that school has forgotten its soul.
The success rates of our students is well documented and disseminated by NCEA. We remind all our social media friends of this, especially during Catholic Schools Week.
Our students perform in the classroom and beyond. We tout high standardized test scores and student growth percentile, our students get into their preferred Catholic high schools and then the best colleges. They are critical thinkers with a world view, problem-solvers who care for the poor. Jesus the Teacher of 2,000+ years’ experience would be proud!
And think about the fun we have in our Catholic schools! Spirit weeks and field days to celebrate our patron saint’s feast day; field trips and elective classes; competitions to win free dress day or an extra recess.
One of my sons is the type that a teacher once told my wife, “He’s the student you want in your class during observations.” And don’t principals instinctively stop what they’re doing to walk into a class of loud joy? We love to see fun learning!
The pandemic brought us good also, like competitive quiz-preparation apps like Kahoot and Quizziz and new ways to collaborate (once we learned to use breakout rooms on Zoom) with shared Google Slides as assignments.
Catholic school fun is not just on the playground, you see. It’s also in the classroom and even at Mass through an uplifting song or engaging homily.
This week, I invite you to bring a mirror to school, in your mind. Revisit your day like an Ignatian Daily Examen, only consider the Four Fs of Education. I think you’ll find yourself smiling as you see how your Catholic school is filled with Family, Faith, Future, and Fun!
Will Summer, M.Ed.is interim principal at Cathedral Chapel School, Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
wsummer@la-archdiocese.org