Spiritual leadership is often cited by principals as one of the most difficult tasks. With fewer vowed religious and priests around, our lay leaders must serve as the spiritual leaders of their school faith communities. In a special liturgical time like Advent, this feeling of inadequacy can manifest itself. To that end, I’ve dropped two special podcast episodes from Dr. Thomas Groome of Boston College. You can listen to the first episode here which focuses on religious education and evangelization in general. The second episode focuses more directly on the value of Catholic schools.

Groome points out that our focus on proper Church teaching often leads us to forget about Jesus himself. For example, the Baltimore catechism–often cited by those nostalgic about the “good old days” of quality Catholic catechism–said very little about the life of Jesus. It was based on the Apostles’ Creed which passes over the life of Jesus (“born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.”). Perhaps during this time of Advent we can make an effort to reconnect with our Christian roots and reflect on how Jesus taught and lived. As complicated and busy as our lives can become, spending some time with Jesus can bring us peace.

As we work for own spiritual renewal, remember that our own school’s renewal begins with listening to our people. Retention is a problem in our schools with less than 60% of our students staying 5 years and only 72% of our teachers returning each of the last two school years. As we approach Christmas time, this might be a good time to reach out to parents to make sure that all of their concerns are being addressed. At the Summit, quite a few people mentioned that offering new parents a veteran mentor might help their transition. While it might be too late to match up new parents with veteran parents, it isn’t too late to ask new parents if they have any questions. (Trust me, I’m a parent at two new schools this year and I still don’t have everything figured out!). A phone call or a survey might go a long way toward building retention.

Speaking of retention, we’re continuing our departmental work in this area. Last week we conducted the Diocesan math contest. We’ve now launched kickball, bowling, and math contests to get more students involved. We’ve just set the date for the February 11th all-8th grade dance. The timing of this event is perfect to build excitement and enthusiasm during your registration drives. While these students won’t be re-registering at your school, it gives your younger students something to look forward to and connects all of us as a Catholic school community.

Previous blogs can be found here. Want to keep up with the conversations surrounding Catholic education? Set up your own Google Alert, subscribe to this newsletter by clicking "follow," subscribe to the Catholic Schools Daily, or subscribe to the Catholic School Matters podcast.

Dr. Tim Uhl

Diocesan Math Competition

On Friday, December 2nd we hosted our first annual Diocesan Math Competition. In the morning six teams of 3-5 students from St. Benedict, DeSales, St. John the Baptist, and St. Stephen competed in three rounds of rigorous math problems. In the end awards were given to the top three individual student scores and the top three overall team scores.

Congratulations to…

Individual Winners

• 1st Abhi Mattala from St. Benedict School
• 2nd Joseph Spillman from St. John the Baptist Kenmore
• 3rd William Tooley from St. John the Baptist Kenmore

Team Winners

• 1st St. Benedict’s Tigers #1
• 2nd St. John Kenmore’s The Whiz Kids
• 3rd St. John Kenmore’s Mathletes

In the afternoon the 6-8 students from St. Benedict, Christ the King, St. Christopher, Saints Peter and Paul Hamburg, Desales, and St. Stephen arrived prepared to challenge themselves and one another. The competition ended with a head-to-head round where students had thirty seconds to answer a variety of computation questions.

Congratulations to…

Countdown Round

• Alex Lane from Saints Peter and Paul School Hamburg

Individual Winners

• 1st Alex Lane from Saints Peter and Paul Hamburg
• 2nd Patrick McWilliams from St. Stephen
• 3rd Mai Mahoney from Christ the King

Team Winners

• 1st Saints Peter and Paul Hamburg Alge-bros
• 2nd Christ the King Math Magicians
• 3rd Christ the King Algorithm and St. Stephen’s School

Science of Reading

This past week a couple of literacy loving teachers recommended a podcast to me about the Science of Reading which I must pass along! If you are interested in learning more, this podcast dives into how districts, schools, and publishing companies have responded to the Science of Reading research. It also challenges us as educators and leaders to think about our own approach to literacy instruction, the use of research based curricular resources, and the assessments students are given. Sold a Story is a six part podcast series that can be found via this website or wherever you download your podcasts.

Faith Formation Videos

Don’t forget the three faith formation videos that all faculty, staff, and school leaders must complete this year can be found on this website. Click on “Teacher and Catechist Formation.” Select “Choose Courses” under Catholic School Teacher Formation and add the three courses to your cart. These videos can be watched individually or as a whole staff.

November Character Award Winners

It is time once again to nominate one student from your school who best exemplifies the value of service. Please enter them here! The last day to submit nominations is Monday, December 12.

Previous "Academic Corner" posts from Kari

1. Nominations for the "Making a Difference" teaching award and the Distinguished Principal Award are due December 8th. Please fill out the appropriate nomination Google Form ASAP. (links above)

2. Laurie and Erie1 BOCES needs to know your eschool contact info.

3. Here is the link for the Office Blog with the latest forms and information. This can be found on the website under "Blogs.

• 12/16/22 Fire Safety Inspection Report Due 12/16/2022

• 12/31/22 Complete Eight of the 12 Required Evacuation or Lockdown Drills

Mandated Services for 2021-22 – Online Forms Available 1/3/2023 for 4/1/2023 Submission Deadline: As I mentioned previously, NYSED has released the 2021-2022 Mandated Services forms. To help you prepare for the Mandated Services claim process, I have created a personalized Excel spreadsheet for each school. If you are ready to begin working on your claim please send me an email to request your personalized “Form 1” Excel spreadsheet. Verifying the salary and benefits information on Form 1 is the most time-consuming part of the Mandated Services process. Additional information will be sent to all schools when the online claims are made available by NYSED on the Business Portal around 1/3/2023.

Previous posts from Mr. Riso

Basketball schedules have been finalized. Principals, ADs, coaches, and parents should all have seen them.

It's not too early to begin thinking about the Diocesan Chess Championship. Chess tournament signup

Please see the athletics/activities blog for the most up to date information.

1. Weekly principal Zooms at 9:00 am on Wednesdays
2. Diocesan principal meeting, Jan 12th, 2022 at St. Andrew's. This meeting will be sponsored by Catholic Virtual. RSVP here. Agenda will be posted here (when ready).
3. All-diocesan 8th grade dance, Feb 11th, Nardin Academy.
4. Fall Professional Development day, October 6, 2023 @ St. Mary's HS.

1. Devotional Calendar 2022-23.
   
2. The Fall 2022 Diocesan Health Scorecard; The spring 2022 Diocesan Health Scorecard.
3. School Pastor's Administrative Guide
4. "Principal Task List." This is organized as a living Google Doc by month.
5. New Policy Manual for all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Buffalo.
6. New Operations Manual for Diocesan Catholic schools.
7. Administrator Goal Sheet and the new Administrator evaluation form

This season's Catholic School Matters podcast season is underway with a conversation with Deacon Kevin McCormack, the new superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Brooklyn. McCormack shares his vision for Catholic education and the reasons he gave up a successful principalship to become a superintendent.

• After a short break, the podcast is back with two recent conversations with Dr. Thomas Groome of Boston College. The first conversation centers on religious education and evangelization. The second conversation is centered on Catholic schools and his recent publication, What Makes Education Catholic: Spiritual Foundations. Other recent episodes:
• Dr. Kevin Baxter, the co-editor of Conscience & Catholic Education and the keynote for thisf all's Diocesan Education Summit. We discuss the book and how it pertains to current issues in Catholic education. Here is the direct link to the podcast episode.
• I spoke to Shaka Rawls, the principal of Leo Catholic HS on Chicago's Southside. He is a dynamic leader of this predominantly African-American Catholic high school who describes the mission of the school as one which serves the community. Here is a direct link to the podcast.
  
• I talk with Greg Richmond, the Superintendent of the Archdiocese of Chicago. In his second year, Greg comes from the charter world and shares his unique perspective on this new position which he loves.
  
• This week's podcast gives us a chance to hear the perspective of a person fired from her position at a Catholic high school due to same-sex marriage.
• Season 7 kicked off with a great conversation with Rich Clark of Cleveland. He helped found a Cristo Rey High School and played a pivotal role in Partnership School's Expansion to Cleveland. Our interview was recorded on September 2nd and Rich passed away on September 20th.

Here is a link to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.

A weekly newsletter of resources to spur enrollment and excellence in our Catholic schools.

Email: catholicschoolmatters@gmail.com
Website: www.wnycatholic.org
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone: 716-847-5520
Twitter: @WNYCatholicEd

1. On Change Management (2011) HBR's 10 Must Reads
   

2. On the Edge: Your Catholic School Guide to Student Recruitment & Retention (2013) by Daniel Horn

3. Jesus' Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount (2022) by Richard Rohr

4. The Prepared Leader: Emerge from any Crisis More Resilient than Before (2022) by Erika James & Lynn Perry Wooten

5. Faith For the Heart: A Catholic Spirituality (2019) by Thomas Groome.

Click this link for a full list of my professional reading

November 29, 2022 "4 Lessons from the Pandemic"

Nov 15, 2022 "Resources"

Nov 8, 2022 "Summiting"

Nov 1, 2022 "Good News for Catholic Schools"

Oct 25, 2022 "Updates"

For previous newsletters, click this link

A couple of years ago I set out to write a book which would explore the challenges of Catholic school leadership. My premise that there are no easy answers and that we have to learn from our (and other's) mistakes in order to form a mindset appropriate for orchestrating conflict proved prescient as we all faced completely new and unexpected challenges in 2020. The book,Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic Leadership is now available on Amazon or on the Barnes & Noble site in print or e-book formats. The book explores issues in Catholic school leadership and the tensions between building community and following Church policies and introduces deliberate practice as a method for leadership formation.