Connecticut’s 2024-2025 school year is in its third month and the pages of the Courant have chronicled challenges and aspirations for our state’s students, youth and the people who educate them.
There are many challenges facing education today. Whether it’s tackling the crisis of disconnected youth or rowing against the drift of distractions taking away from teaching time, the common thread I see is one of the great aspirations we all share for Connecticut’s students.
Education is one of the most personal and important decisions every family makes. Sending your sons and daughters to school is an act of hope and faith. And there are good people who have dedicated their lives to teaching, coaching and caring for them.
As the superintendent of Connecticut’s largest Catholic school system, I see those challenges and share in the greatest of aspirations for all students that come through the doors of the Archdiocese of Hartford’s Catholic pre-K, elementary, middle and high schools. Our schools educate students from all cultures, ethnic groups and faith backgrounds.
It is too easy for youth today to become disconnected from family, school and friends, and the caustic, anti-social culture brought to every child by the so-called social media in the palm of their hands is far too easy to fall prey to. To be sure, our students face the same challenges as their friends in public schools. As Discover Catholic Schools Week approaches, I thought it important to shed some light in how we deliver on the aspirations we have for their success.
We focus on countering the drift toward disconnected youth by fostering each student as an individual, developing more than just their academic success, by nurturing their mind, body and spirit, and imagination. Our students are called not only to do well in their classrooms, they are encouraged to go out and do good in the world. Our schools provide a safe place for students to explore and identify questions that give meaning to their lives and help them understand that every person has a purpose… every life matters.
We celebrate our students and provide them with access to resources and tools to explore any academic or social topics that fire their imaginations. We passionately guard instruction time in our schools so we can equip our students with the learning and critical thinking skills that will serve their lives beyond our doors and their formal education. This, I believe, is why our test scores outperform national averages on all sections of the SAT, our athletics and the arts strengthen academics and our students become leaders.
It is very hard for a student to become lost in our schools. Our educators, administrators, counselors and coaches surround them with an educational experience rooted in the truths of our faith while building a foundation of essential skills and traditions to help our students succeed long after they walk out our doors. We know their names, we see, know and love them as children of God, we encourage them to be their best selves and teach them that every person has a purpose, a beauty, a strength and that the world is a greater place because of them.
I am inspired by the students, parents, grandparents, pastors, faculty, administrators and staff members who contribute to our schools, and thank God for them every day. I also join those throughout all Connecticut schools who meet the challenges in educating our youth with their boundless aspirations for the students who are relying on us all.
Our doors are always open; and whether today or during Discover Catholic Schools Week, November 17 to 23, I invite you to come and experience why, to paraphrase St. Luke, in caring for the whole student in mind, body and spirit, there is “something greater here.”
Valerie Mara is superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Hartford.
