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Moving Mountains: Superintendent’s Overview of the Catholic School Principalship
New Principals July 5, 2018

2. Catholic School Leadership?
Your Calling
Who called you to
Catholic School Leadership?
How did they call you?

3. Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago
More than 76,000 students (P-12)
176 Elementary Schools
167 affiliated with a parish or parishes; 3 Archdiocesan- operated; 5 non-parochial/independent
33 Secondary Schools
29 religious order/independent; 2 Archdiocesan; 2 parish

4. P-12 Enrollment, Prior Decade
# of schools
Source: Archdiocese of Chicago Enrollment Surveys 4

5. Elementary Enrollment, Prior Decade
Source: Master Schools Database – Historic Enrollment 5

6. The Challenge Financial & Demographic Headwinds Mass & Faith Trends
Lack of Consistent Practice & Strategy
Affordability
Quality & Quantity of Local Competition
Teacher & Principal Turnover
Aging Buildings & Instructional Materials
Decline in Confidence and Hope

7. Reasons for Hope

8. Strategic Plan for Catholic Schools
Primary Goal:
To provide a clear, comprehensive, optimistic strategic plan for the future of Catholic school education.
Secondary Goals:
To align the school strategic plan with Renew My Church
To inform the structure and makeup of the Office of Catholic Schools
To achieve meaningful engagement and buy-in from stakeholders
Vision Statement:
Vibrant, high quality Catholic schools that are available, accessible, and affordable.

9. Six Guiding Principles
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Six Guiding Principles
Evangelizing mission
Catholic schools exist to evangelize, to foster a relationship between each student and Jesus Christ and his Church. This mission of evangelization and discipleship should remain the top priority for our schools
Schools as a priority
A Catholic school is the optimal comprehensive setting for religious education. Church and society benefit from strong Catholic schools. As such, sustaining and growing high quality schools is a priority for the Archdiocese of Chicago
Best possible quality
Each Catholic school must provide the best religious and academic quality possible, animated and supported by excellent leadership
Preferential option for the poor
Core to the Catholic mission of schools is a presence, commitment to, and disproportionate investment in the poor
Access to Catholic schools
Any geographic grouping of parishes in the Archdiocese should have reasonable access to at least one high quality Catholic elementary school
Connection to parishes
Catholic schools benefit parishes, and parishes benefit schools. When possible, schools should maintain formal sponsorship by parishes, and mutually work to achieve a close, vibrant relationship 9

10. Five Focus Areas of the Plan
Strategic plan
Where we are today
5 focus areas
Where we want to go
Catholic identity
Funding strategy, OCS structure & staffing 1
Academic excellence 2
Leadership 3
Governance 4
Financial vitality 5 10

11. Planning Steps Individual School & Neighborhood Profiles
Data Collection & Analysis
Teacher Retention
Study
Key
Metrics
Consultations
Stakeholder
Surveys
Focus
Groups

12. Summary of Leadership Goals
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Summary of Leadership Goals
Where Catholic schools are today
Where we want Catholic schools to go
Principal leadership is the single most important factor in driving a school’s success (or failure)
Principal performance varies by leader, and is not necessarily tied to experience
Pipeline of qualified principal candidates is growing, but is not currently large enough to adequately supply the transformative leaders needed
All schools have a strong leader in place, with rigorous professional dev. goals and training
Strong pipeline of qualified candidates (mostly internal) produced annually through Leadership Academy/OCS sponsorship to masters programs
Regional directors constantly monitor principal needs in order to retain superior leaders
Most significant initiatives
Focus and expand principal development and intervention strategies (e.g. professional development, coaching etc.). Develop an apprenticeship program.
Expand new leaders program (e.g. retreat, Year 2, etc.).
Develop and implement incentives (monetary and non-monetary) to foster principal recruitment and retention.
Continue to expand university partnerships to broaden leadership pipeline.
Complete optimization study and act on results. 12

13. Summary of Catholic Identity Goals
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Summary of Catholic Identity Goals
Where Catholic schools are today
Where we want Catholic schools to go
Strength of Catholic identity varies in schools across AoC, driven largely by strength of principal and pastor involvement/support
Current religion curriculum is cumbersome, and not widely supported by school principals
Principals and teachers receive limited training on best practices in evangelization and faith formation
All schools have strong Catholic identity, led by a heavily-involved principal and pastor
Schools implement a strong, centrally-developed religion curriculum, paired with an assessment of religious learning
Principals and teachers are missionary disciples and are witnesses of their faith to students
Most significant initiatives
Development of a Catholic Culture initiative
Development of Renew My Church Phase 5 school evangelization strategy
Enhanced training and formation for Catholic school principals and teachers (e.g. October Summit)
Continued revision of religion curriculum. P-2 implementation in 19/20, older grades in 20/21. Development of a standardized religion assessment. 13

14. Summary of Academic Excellence Goals
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Summary of Academic Excellence Goals
Where Catholic schools are today
Where we want Catholic schools to go
Academic quality of Catholic schools varies significantly across the school system
Significant changes have been made in recent years (AdvancED accreditation process, implementation of ACT Aspire test) to improve academics
Teacher recruitment, development, and assessment is highly variable in schools, with limited central oversight
Students who are genuinely learning through the best possible, most engaging instruction
Rigorous professional development for educators and high quality instructional resources that are tied to academic goals
Rich use of academic data to inform practice and purchasing
Most significant initiatives
Fully implement Danielson initiative to rigorously assess and develop teacher performance.
Formulate and implement Teacher Recruitment initiative.
Continue implementation of the AdvancEd Continuous Improvement program.
Determine feasibility of expanding blended learning and dual-language immersion programs. 14

15. Called by Jesus Christ:
Renew My Church: Summary of mission imperatives and Archdiocesan initiatives
Called by Jesus Christ:
Mission priorities
Making disciples
Evangelization & formation
Vocations
Building communities
3. Leadership development & support
4. Parish vitality
5. School vitality
Inspiring witness
6. Faith in Action (e.g., Violence Prevention, immigration)
7. Society engagement
Supporting the mission
8. Foundational excellence

16. Renew My Church: Grouping process proceeds in 5 stages
RMC grouping process designed to address challenges identified from other dioceses and past local experiences 16

17. Summary of Governance Goals
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Summary of Governance Goals
Where Catholic schools are today
Where we want Catholic schools to go
Schools have traditionally operated very independently with sporadic involvement from the OCS
Governance models vary, and are generally developed without strong coordination from the OCS
While most schools report the presence of local Boards, Board functionality varies
Enable proper and meaningful oversight of schools by the OCS while still maintaining an appropriate level of local autonomy
Assure a properly functioning local school Board that reflects the best model for the community
Most significant initiatives
Leverage Renew My Church to determine optimal governance models for schools.
Continue expansion of Turnaround and Parish Improvement Program (PIP) to provide enhanced support for more schools.
Expand School Board initiative to enable broader impact. 17

18. Summary of Financial Vitality Goals
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Summary of Financial Vitality Goals
Where Catholic schools are today
Where we want Catholic schools to go
Many schools still struggle financially. The Archdiocese currently dedicates over $12 million in aid to schools
Many school and parish leaders struggle with managing finances and operations
Sustained financial vitality will require a combination of new revenue, turnarounds, and possible school closures
Enrollment stability and ideally growth
Scholarship support (from various sources) for families of genuine need
Overall financial vitality improvement through strategic decisions that strengthen the mission of Catholic education
Archdiocesan aid is used as an investment to continuously improve school quality, vitality, and leadership
Most significant initiatives
Continued implementation of Renew My Church, Turnaround/PIP, and other strategies to improve vitality and adjust school footprint as needed.
Implementation of new tax credit scholarship program. Expansion of Phoenix Scholarship.
Expansion of Latino Initiative to reach new families of Hispanic background.
Continued fundraising for ongoing needs. 18

19. Questions & Discussion
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Questions & Discussion 19

20. Office of Catholic Schools (OCS)
Charged with providing leadership, oversight, and support of the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese.
Faith
Excellence
Stewardship
“Types” of OCS Staff:
1.) Leadership Team
2.) Regional Directors
3.) Specialists
4.) Administrative Support

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Final Thoughts 21

22. THANK YOU!!! Jim Rigg, Ph.D. jrigg@archchicago.org (312) 534-5212 22
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THANK YOU!!!
Jim Rigg, Ph.D.
(312) 22