Sunday, February 05, 2006
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
My parish deacon also happens to be the principal of the parish school. In the bulletin today he spells out the school mission which reads in part:
As stated on the signs at the main doors, "Christ is the reason for this School." We believe strongly that the sole reason that we exist as a parish school is to spread the Gospel message to the children of [the] parish and neighboring parishes without schools so that we can prepare the next generation of Catholics in the practice of the faith. This is not the same mission that is shared by all schools. Some operate on the "fill every seat" principle. They do extensive advertising campaigns to recruit students so that the school will reap the benefits of extra tuition revenue. While finances are always an important concern and a fact of life, we at [this] school will always put our mission first. We will never become just another private school. We believe that this is what our parishioners want. While our parish school has doubled in size, most Catholic schools have lost substantial numbers from their enrollment.
Isn't that what most parents assume will be the mission of the parish school--to spread the Gospel and teach the next generation about Christ? Yet how often we learn that there are many non-Catholics in the school. Does the Gospel suffer when non-Catholics are part of the student body? Are the religions of the other students taken into consideration when they are present? While courtesy to non-Catholics is certainly a Catholic concept, doesn't it get in the way of the primary mission to educate Catholic children?
In years gone by, part of my parish school building was rented out to a dance studio and to a preschool. That is no longer the case. The enrollment forced the parish to convert the rented rooms to classrooms. Somebody is doing something right down there! More likely a lot of somebodys.
