Catholic Identity

Strategic Directions

Catholic Identity
"Catholic schools strive to help students become fully human--mind, heart imagination, and soul--in an environment where students feel safe to discover their unique identity and gifts and where all human life and differences are valued."
--Dr. Timothy Cook

WE BELIEVE…

We believe that the Catholic identity of our schools is richly expressed through the living example and actions of the members of the school community. Prayer, the sacramental life of the community, the celebration of our Catholic traditions, and the symbols of our faith are central to the mission of Catholic school education. The integration of moral teachings throughout the Catholic school curriculum and the commitment to living those teachings through social action are fundamental. Our schools are staffed by faculty members who give witness to their faith and call their students to do the same. In this tradition, Catholic schools embody the teachings of Jesus Christ and the mission of the Church. Our schools are open to people of all faiths, cultures and socioeconomic levels. The schools strive to form a bond with the parishes and communities that they serve.

WE COMMIT…

The Office of Catholic Schools commits to the following initiatives:

We commit to celebrating our Catholic identity in the Archdiocesan marketing campaign by emphasizing the faith formation of students from early childhood through secondary education.
We commit to developing educational and formational programs that address the need for priests, deacons, consecrated religious and laity to support and be present within our elementary and secondary schools.
We commit to recruiting quality teachers and administrators who embrace Catholic identity and to providing them with ongoing adult faith formation.
We commit to encouraging each school to discover and celebrate the individual charism of the consecrated religious, priests, deacons and lay communities that founded the school and to fostering a continuation of their presence and principles in the future.

WE WILL…

Each Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Hartford will pursue the following initiatives, either independently or in partnership with the Office of Catholic Schools:

We will ensure that the school’s mission statement embraces its Catholic identity, including Christian humanism, Christian relationships and global solidarity, as well as the unique charism of the institution.
We will partner with the Office of Catholic Schools to nurture the journey of faith with educational and formational programs that extend over the continuum of early childhood through secondary education.
We will develop outreach efforts to promote the benefits of Catholic school education for a more diverse audience, including people of other faiths, cultures and socioeconomic status.
We will actively integrate the school community, including parents, into the ongoing life of the parish(es).
We will display key symbols of the Catholic faith within our school and, when possible, hire qualified personnel who are ordained in the Roman Catholic Church or are members of consecrated religious communities.