Category: Our Catholic Schools

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Michael Lancaster, Superintendent of Catholic Schools

What is the main purpose of education?

First in a series.

It’s that time of year again when the air starts to cool, leaves reveal their true colors, and children board buses back to school. All of us have experienced the end of summer vacation and the start of school.

Generation after generation, the cycle repeats. It is a rite of passage, part of the fabric of our modern society. It is so common that most of us take it for granted, rarely pausing to reflect on the purpose of school, or an education.

Purpose of education

The purpose of education and the means by which to achieve it have been the discussion of much national debate over the last decade.

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Michael Lancaster

Could return to past model help small Catholic schools remain vital today?

At this time each year, the Office of Catholic Schools collects data detailing the state of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Madison.

When looking at data from the past few years, we have seen some exciting trends, such as the addition of grades six to eight at three different schools, the addition of three-year-old pre-school programs at several schools, and marked enrollment increases at several Catholic schools in Dane County.

These positive signs indicate growing enrollment and a focus on continuous improvement and development. While growth comes with certain challenges, it is a reason for great hope for the future of Catholic schools.

While this growth is exciting and encouraging, many Catholic schools, especially those in rural communities, are facing a different set of challenges: how to remain vital and vibrant in communities where the general population is shrinking, leaving an ever smaller pool of students from which to draw.

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Michael Lancaster

The school year is a time of new beginnings

We are a people of new beginnings! In our faith, this is manifest most directly in the sacraments.

In Baptism, we are reborn in Christ, washed clean of the stain of original sin, beginning anew in him. When we confess our sins in Reconciliation, we are forgiven, washed clean of sin, and begin anew in Christ. When we present ourselves humbly before the Lord and receive his body in Holy Eucharist, He enters our very being and creates us anew in him (2 Cor 5:17, Rev. 21:5). We are a people of new beginnings!

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Michael Lancaster

Catholic schools serve society

This year we again celebrate our Catholic schools as “Communities of faith, knowledge, and service.”

It is always edifying to look at our Catholic schools with satisfaction and pride as we recognize the wonderful communities of faith, knowledge, and service created by each school.

During Catholic Schools Week, we acknowledge these communities, extoll their virtues, and invite others to join us as members of these communities that educate children in faith and knowledge that they might serve others and by so doing, serve God.

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Michael Lancaster, For the Catholic Herald

Teaching through examples of faith, knowledge, and service

Kindergarten and fourth grade students at All Saints Catholic School in Berlin prepare for Catholic Schools Week (CSW) by coloring the CSW logo for hallway decorations. Catholic schools throughout the Diocese of Madison will be observing Catholic Schools Week from January 26 to February 1 with a variety of activities highlighting the theme, “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge, and Service.” (Contributed photo)

MADISON –Communities of “faith, knowledge, and service.” This is a wonderful description of Catholic schools. for these three aspects lie at the heart of every Catholic school.

Christ is the center

First among these is faith. Christ is the center and focus of each and every Catholic school. As our late Pope John Paul II wrote, “Catholic education is above all a question of communicating Christ, of helping to form Christ in the lives of others.”

This is the primary goal of all Catholic schools: to form students in faith that they may come to know and love Christ.

As students come to know Christ, they travel a lifelong journey of learning what it means to be fully human in the example of Christ.

Forming the whole person

As we are created with many attributes, skills, talents, and faculties, Catholic schools seek to develop all of these by educating not only the heart, but the mind and body as well — by forming the whole person.

Every day, dedicated teachers help students develop their intellect and reasoning, challenging them to ask questions, seek answers, and learn the whole truth about themselves and their world in all its glorious detail. This quest for truth through knowledge is the second pillar of Catholic schools.

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Michael Lancaster

Catholic schools educate the whole person

Our Catholic Schools, by Michael Lancaster

As we begin September, we prepare to engage in the wonderful task of teaching and learning in Catholic schools.

Some may wonder and question why this task is any different than similar tasks undertaken by tens of millions of students and hundreds of thousands of teachers at public schools?

After all, aren’t all schools in the business of teaching and learning? Don’t all parents want basically the same things for our children — to educate them so they gain the knowledge and confidence necessary to succeed economically and socially, to instill traits that will ensure that they understand and fulfill their social responsibilities and perform well the duties of national and global citizenship?

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Michael Lancaster

Holding students to a higher standard: New norms in diocese point us to the cross

Our Catholic Schools, by Michael Lancaster

We have all heard much in the media about the importance of our schools, and the importance of holding our students to high expectations and academic standards.

“Catholic Schools Raise the Standards,” the theme for Catholic Schools Week, echoes the popular news but reflects something which Catholic schools have been doing since St. Elizabeth Ann Seton opened St. Joseph Catholic School in 1810.

The school educated girls who, at that time, had significantly fewer educational opportunities than boys, and provided them with a solid academic foundation as well as skills necessary to make a living. Most importantly however, the Catholic school provided its students with a firm education in the Catholic faith. This ensured that students not only received a practical education, but that they learned to model their lives on Gospel values — the standards given to us by Christ himself.

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Michael Lancaster

Catholic schools: Faith, academics, service

Our Catholic Schools, by Michael Lancaster“Why do we have Catholic schools?” I mean really, why do we have Catholic schools? It’s a question I hear much too often.

Yet it is a question that I am passionate about answering, not just because I’m the superintendent, but because I’ve experienced Catholic schools as a student, a parent, a teacher, and an administrator, and I am completely, totally, and unequivocally convinced that Catholic schools are awesome!

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