Being a Catholic School ( Part 1!)

I have stated many times, to many people, I don't put a lot of relevance into what school a child goes to. Public or private, inner city or suburban, a "good" school or a "bad" school, it's all irrelevant. I have known students who have gone to school's labeled as "bad" who have received tremendous educations and gone on to great success. Similarly, I know children who have gone to school's that are considered excellent who have dropped out of school.

As an educator, I do feel the most important component of a child's success in school is his or her home life. We always state that parents are the primary educators, and I agree with this statement whole-heartedly. We at the schools have the tools the students needs to learn, but the parent is the one who will make sure a child uses those tools correctly and understands the importance of their use.

That being said, I think one important factor one should consider in choosing a school is the environment of the school. In my twenty years of teaching, I have always been impressed with the environment of the Catholic schools I have worked in, and this includes Holy Angels. It's a good place for kids to be.

Of course we have discipline issues at the school, although they are rarely severe issues. One thing to remember, however, is that they are almost always children's issues. So often, adults look at a situation from an adult perspective, and completely ignore the fact that childhood is a time for kids to screw up! They are supposed too make mistakes, and then learn from those mistakes. That is how they become responsible adults.

We have a responsibility to view what children do from this perspective. As a Catholic not only do we have this responsibility in dealing with kids who are normally well-behaved, but also with the students who may be a bit more challenging. We also need to consider what may be causing such behavior. Jesus did not preach amongst those who did not need him. He concentrated on the sinners, because he knew that is where he was most needed.

Again, we are fortunate to have relatively few discipline issues at Holy Angels. But we must remember the reason we exist as a Catholic school and adhere to these principles instead of just providing them lip service.