2015-16 Annual Report
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3 Office of the Cardinal 1011 First Avenue New York, NY 10022 Dear Friends in the Lord, Every new year brings with it new blessings, opportunities, As the benefits of our regionalized governance structure and challenges. Our Catholic school system, much like the continue to unfold, new resources have invigorated the Church itself, embraces these blessed moments to grow school system. An aggressive, new approach to student in mind and spirit. As the mission of Catholic education recruitment and marketing has positioned our schools to continues its proud tradition, cultivated for more than 200 sustain and strengthen enrollment both now and in the years in the United States of America, the Archdiocese future. Thanks to the tireless work of our regional boards, of New York is at the forefront of innovation from the full of dedicated members of both the clergy and the classroom to the board room. faithful, as well as our lay advisory boards, an abundance of scholarships and financial assistance have been In October 2016, the Archdiocese of New York’s Catholic secured to help more families make the dream of Catholic Schools Office received the National Catholic Education education a reality. Association’s (NCEA) prestigious St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award for Leadership in Catholic Education. This should One thing that will never change, however, is our schools’ come as no surprise, as our Christ-centered schools commitment to bringing children closer to the Lord, continue to evangelize the students entrusted to our care leading a life of service and proclaiming His word to the while also placing a premium on providing a cutting-edge, world. As a result of the sacrifices made by our religious first-rate education. women and men, and faithful lay leaders, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York are raising the next Over the past year, the archdiocese’s school system generation of servants to the Lord. has made an unprecedented investment in wireless infrastructure for school buildings to increase technology- When our school system received the aforementioned based instruction. This capability has paved the way for national recognition from NCEA, I stated in my address exciting instructional innovations, like the expansion of to the crowd; “Children graduate from a Catholic school blended learning, which not only leverages computers with an excellent education of the mind, but also the and educational software as tools of instruction, but also formation of the heart and soul.” This duality has been the facilitates individualized learning to meet every child’s hallmark of Catholic education in the archdiocese for more unique needs. than two centuries. As we infuse our schools with new, innovative approaches, I know that this tradition will only The increased focus on technology has provided data to be strengthened through the years. inform instruction for better educational outcomes and helped transition schools to a more detailed, informative With prayerful best wishes for the New Year, I remain, report card, engaging families in their child’s education. Faithfully in Christ, Thanks to generous benefactors and supporters, we have engaged programs like Engineering Tomorrow to bolster interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), particularly among young women. All of these efforts highlight the innovative approaches the archdiocese Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan has undertaken and continues to promote throughout Archbishop of New York our system. 1 Executive Summary TOTAL SCHOOLS: 217 | ENROLLMENT: 67,981 | WEB: CATHOLICSCHOOLSNY.ORG If there is one word that most accurately describes the spirit, successes, and overall theme of the 2015 – 2016 academic year in the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of New York, that word would absolutely be “innovation.” Whether one considers the system- tens of thousands of students and wide enhancements from our families that call our schools home. Pathways to Excellence strategic Specifically, the NCEA recognized plan that continue to be effectively our schools for successfully implemented, or the variety of executing a number of ambitious creative teaching techniques yielding initiatives that have come to define exceptional results throughout our and revolutionize our school system. individual regions and schools, These include: (1) the efforts of CONTENTS the archdiocese is a leader for our regional boards of trustees and instructional strategies and lay advisory boards which serve as learning resources. I am pleased crucial resources for fundraising, Executive Summary 02 to report the successful leveraging development and marketing of Catholic Identity 08 of a multitude of these innovative our schools; (2) the expansion of educational strategies has furnished technology in the classroom to Manhattan Region 10 demonstrable results for our schools, supplement teaching and learning Northwest/South Bronx Region 12 not only in student performance, and to tailor instruction based on but also in our mission to instill a students’ individual needs and Northeast/East Bronx Region 14 Christ-centered education for the performance data; (3) increased whole person. investment in teacher training Staten Island Region 16 In October 2016, the National including the deployment of Regional Central Westchester Region 18 Catholic Education Association Instructional Specialists who offer (NCEA) recognized the Catholic customized support to our teachers; Northern Westchester/Putnam Region 20 Schools Office of the Archdiocese of (4) the exciting augmentation of blended learning from a three-school Rockland Region 22 New York as the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Award honoree at the Annual pilot program to over two-dozen Ulster/Sullivan/Orange Region 24 Seton Awards Gala in Washington, schools throughout the archdiocese DC. This prestigious award and growing; and (5) a prioritization Dutchess Region 26 recognizes “Catholic education of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum and Partnership Schools 28 visionaries” whose “support and service impacts Catholic education the skills that will help our students Special Education 29 and the well-being of our nation’s succeed in the global economy. youth.” The NCEA praised our In the summary to follow, I am Secondary Education 30 school system as exemplary for both pleased to share with you a snapshot Staff Listing 32 the quality and quantity of creative of this exciting progress, as well as innovations that have enriched our some additional information on these mission of instilling a faith-based, compelling innovations from the future-focused education for the previous year. 2 Photo: Thomas W. Burnford, D. Min., President and CEO of NCEA; Timothy J. McNiff, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Archdiocese of New York; Christian Perez, Senior, Cardinal Hayes High School, Seton Scholar Award Winner; Carmen Perez, Christian's mother; Most Reverend George V. Murry, SJ, Chair of the NCEA Board of Directors, Bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown BLENDED LEARNING & TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED TEACHING Blended learning is the use of both online and in-person exams and interim diagnostic assessments. instruction to enhance student achievement. This multi- The model utilizes technological resources such faceted approach to instruction offers many benefits to as tablets, ChromeBooks and other tools to create both teachers and students. Students develop a unique customized exercises and assessments for each student learning path catered to their individual needs, while across the curriculum. teachers have instant access to data about student The promising results that many of our schools learning and understanding that helps them better have experienced from the innovative and effective address students’ strengths and weaknesses. Our blended implementation of blended learning continue to attract learning program started as a pilot in three schools at the notoriety and praise from the community. For example, beginning of the 2015-2016 school year. Since then, after being selected as an early blended learning pilot it has grown rapidly to 25 schools. Our gracious donors school, St. Ann “The Personal School” in East Harlem have been instrumental to the growth and success of the was selected to receive the prestigious 2016 Blackboard program. Blended learning schools have demonstrated Award for Outstanding Schools at a ceremony hosted by student growth and improvement on end-of-year state New York Family Magazine in December. 3 INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS TO BOLSTER STEM EDUCATION INNOVATIONS IN ENROLLMENT One of the archdiocese’s most exciting innovations this Our overall marketing initiatives have three goals in past year has been our collaboration with Engineering mind: to increase awareness of the life-long benefits Tomorrow. Engineering Tomorrow is a non-profit of a Catholic education, increase enrollment in Pre-K organization that introduces students to real-world through grade eight classes at all Catholic schools, and to engineering environments in collaboration with reinforce the importance for graduates to go on to attend participating schools. Specifically, the foundation’s one of our excellent Catholic high schools. mission is “to attract high school students to the For the 2016-2017 school year, the overall marketing and engineering field, with emphasis on females and advertising efforts generated: 17,807 incoming phone minorities, by introducing them to real-world engineering calls to our bilingual Spanish-English hotline; 7,138 projects” that illustrate