By Rebecca Steck, M.S.ED
You would be hard pressed to find a parent of a young scholar who isn’t constantly contemplating their choice of school for their child. Which elementary school will promise the best high school acceptance rate? Which one will provide the most challenging curriculum? How will my child fit socially into the school’s environment? Will my student (students)have a positive relationship with their teachers? These are all common questions for our 21st century parents. Especially here in Fairfield County, our parents have a multitude of choices for their child’s most precious years of social, emotional, and academic development.
The question remains then, why choose a Catholic school? The difference, simplified, is that in a Catholic school the leadership, the teachers, and any other adult who interacts with the children have chosen to work in an environment where their personal values and morals are more important than any other factor in their career.
Catholic school educators are immensely devoted to the overall development of the child standing in front of them. As an educational leader myself who is intrinsically motivated to serve in Catholic schools, I can promise you that this is not something I have to teach a single person on my staff. It is simply something we DO. Our teachers do not need professional development on how to care for kids because it is deeply rooted in who they are as people, why they choose to become teachers, and are dedicated to ensuring that their students become the best people possible so that they eventually go out into the world and serve others too.
For example, throughout the interview process, our teaching candidates are screened in many different areas including their curricular knowledge, classroom management strategies, ability to communicate effectively with parents and colleagues, and much more. Although, with full confidence, we can share that the most important quality is their commitment to loving and caring for each child. The rest can be taught. We can coach teachers to become better at creating assessments or designing lessons, but we cannot teach people to serve from the heart.
In the popular television series Friday Night Lights, Coach Gaines rallies his team by stating, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose”. That is the exact definition of our Catholic school teachers. They know the mission and will do everything they can to help every one of their students achieve because our kids can do anything when they know they are loved and supported.
