Matthew H. Clark, Bishop of Rochester
Sr. Elaine Pitras, Superintendent of Schools
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
As these refreshing summer days wane, we are mindful that your thoughts and your children’s thoughts are most likely turning to those first back-to-school days in September. In that frame of mind, we hope you will enjoy this special issue of the Catholic Courier Monthly, which contains many articles that represent the wonderful energy flowing through our Catholic schools.
First of all, thank you for your own continued commitment to Catholic education, which has been a crucially important and rewarding tradition in our diocese for well more than a century. We know that sending your children to a Catholic school can be challenging financially, to be sure. We know you make many sacrifices to pay the tuition, buy uniforms, and devote your time and talent to volunteer. But rest assured that your sacrifices will pay off; you are making an investment in your child’s future that will have rich rewards.
If experience has taught us anything about Catholic schools over all these years, it is that their reputation for academic excellence is well deserved. One only has to look at our communities, businesses and institutions throughout the diocese to see that Catholic-school graduates have ascended to leadership positions in government, education, law, medicine, the arts and other professions. Your child is not only benefiting from an above-average academic education that will lead to career success — our students consistently score above statewide averages on key measurement tests — but also is gaining the spiritual and moral guidance needed to be successful in life.
Yet, while our tradition is indeed one of which all should be proud, while our methods proven, we are not resting on our laurels: We are fully committed to ensuring Catholic schools remain cutting edge in this still-new century.
For example, over the course of the coming months you will hear more details of the work being done in schools throughout our diocese to make timely and crucial refinements to our curriculum to meet the new needs emerging in this dynamic time in history.
To that end, we are working with national and local experts to create a curriculum that will instill in your child leadership and interpersonal skills; awareness of and sensitivity to our nation’s growing diversity; a global perspective on people, places and languages in this age of globalization; and communication savvy, Internet expertise and media literacy, to name a few. These changes will ensure that your child will excel in the skills needed for today’s 21st-century world and will have the necessary technology to do that. Combine all that with Catholic values and you have a winning combination!
It will be an exciting year, with many more to come.
We are working to make Catholic schools thrive. And we feel blessed that you and your family will be part of this excitement — with all the benefits it will mean to your child — as our hopes and dreams for even better Catholic schools unfold.
May God bless us with a happy, healthy and safe school year for all.
