Technology in Your School

How does your school use technology?  

Do you use iPads? 

How do you plan for the future?

If your school is one that is starting to integrate iPads into the classroom, you have seen how valuable a tool it is. When Apple announced the new iPad Air, it started me thinking. The iPad has been around for three years.  Three years isn't a very long time. Think about how it has been entangled into our everyday life. Think about all the other tablets that are now being sold.

Five years ago when we were looking at schools for our children we knew we wanted technology at the school.  We never dreamed there would be a device that would be handheld and have a touchscreen our child would use to take tests or do homework.  Now here it is.

What is my point?  If we didn’t know about the iPad; five years ago, what do you think the next five years will bring?

How do we prepare our schools, our teachers and our students for technology that we don’t even know about yet?  In five years will the iPad be obsolete?  Will Apple or Google or a couple of Harvard students come up with something totally new and different?

What Does Your School Website Say About You?

What does your website communicate about your school?  I have spent time on your websites, and they are amazing.  When you think about your website, it doesn’t have to be super fancy, or cost a lot of money. 

Do your parents use your website?  How many times are people going to your site.  If you have a prospective family, would they use your website to find out information about your school.  If families do not use your website, do you want them to?  Do you use social media, Facebook, Twitter or any other social media or form of digital communication?  Do you want to use those sites, but don’t know how.

Looking around at our school websites; I would say we are all doing things our own way.  The other great thing about this is if you want to do something different, look at another school in the diocese and see what they are doing.  Meet with another school to see if what they are doing could help your school.  We can all get together and help each other. 

Social media is not going away, the question is how much do we want to share and  embrace it?  Not every school will do this the same way, but we can all help each other achieve our individual goals.

What does your school do?  

What would you like to do? 

 Are you happy with your website? 

Are your parents happy with the your website? What could they improve?

Building your School Community

What would your community say about your school? 

In our community we talk about the parking lot chatter, and I understand it.  I am one of those moms in that parking lot.  However, when you aren’t in the parking lot, when you meet a new neighbor, what do you say about your community? 

Does your school have an ambassador or mentor program?  When my son started Catholic school in first grade, I felt a little left out of the loop.  My son was fine, but it took me a little while to find my niche. (I may actually still be searching for it.)  A few years ago our school started an ambassador program that pairs new families up with an existing family with children in the same grade.  I love the opportunity to volunteer in this program.  I can brag about our school and help a new family feel welcome and settled.  It has spawned friendships for myself and my children. 

As my children get older and, ultimately, I get older, I realize it is this community of like-minded families that keeps me going.  It is knowing that my children have multiple people in their lives that have the same morals and values that I have.  It is often hard to see the importance of this when your child is young.  As they grow up we often lose control of many aspects of their life.  Gone are the days where the playdates included the parents. I can have confidence in their independence because I know the community that has helped shape them into the young adult they are now.

What does your school do to build its community?  What have you done that worked or didn’t work?

Night of Hope Wrap Up

Did you go to the Night of Hope?  I went and had a wonderful time.  I really love this night.  I always leave the night wanting to give all of our money to the Catholic schools.  Then my husband reins me in and we make a more reasonable donation. 

There is something very special about this night.  I always get a little teary-eyed when I listen to the children in the videos.  Our world is full of negative voices all the time; to hear these children talk about God and Jesus as a friend is amazing.  To hear them talk about walking in the footsteps of the Lord, make me grateful that my children attend Catholic School. 

There are always some funny parts of the night, and this year was no exception.  We always seem to be there for the annual Zombie Walk downtown.  Streets were closed and getting to the event wasn’t easy, but we all made it.  It did feel weird talking to the police officer about the Night of Hope on Zombie Night. 

Fr. Parks did a wonderful job reminding all of us about how important our teachers are.  Teachers never know the influence that they have on our children.  One teacher can truly change a child’s life.  God works to put all of his angels in our lives for a purpose. 

This night truly makes a difference in the lives of many of our students who attend Catholic school in the Diocese of Phoenix.  Thank you to everyone who helped to put this night together and all who came out in support.

Why do parents choose Catholic School?

As a parent who sends her kids to Catholic Schools, I am often amazed by the reasons some parents send their children to Catholic Schools. I admit that I have heard all kinds of stories as to why families come to our school or why they leave our school.  Yet, I still think there is a lot to learn about why families come to our schools.  If you google “why choose Catholic School” numerous links come up, many from dioceses across the country.  I did find this article interesting, even if it is from 2009. (http://catholiceducator.blogspot.com/2009/01/top-ten-reasons-to-choose-catholic.html)

You should start by asking the simple uestion: why are parents choosing your school?  Is it location, cost, better education? Once you know why they are choosing your school, you can use that information as a springboard to other tools to bring in families. 

When I went to Catholic high school, it was simply because that was where my father went to school. We didn’t need a reason.  No one asked me where I wanted to go to school, I was told where to go. Today we have many high schools, public, private and Catholic, that host eighth grade days to allow students to see what it's like to actually spend a day at the school. Students are a part of the decision-making process. What are we doing to appeal to those students and their parents?

There are families who don't need to be sold on Catholic Education. There are some families who see your school as a private school, and there are others who value the education and moral values that you provide. 

What drives families to your school?  What tools do you use to attract and retain students?

How to get families to go to weekly Mass

I am new to the Diocesan School Board, but one question I keep hearing is, “How do we get families to attend mass?”  This is a common theme for our schools and our parishes. Prior to joining the school board, I admit, I didn’t realize this was a problem. I am starting to see a pattern and thought it was something we could talk about.

Every family is busy. Every family has activities on Saturday morning, and Sunday is their only morning to sleep in. Any family with active children has the same response. Well, last time I checked we had various mass times. I can’t tell you what will work for your families, but let me share with you what works with mine.

My oldest son, Jack, is an altar server. My husband, Eric is a Eucharistic minister. Both of these roles require us to go to mass. I am not saying that everyone should volunteer for these positions, but this was a choice my family has made. My son wanted to be an altar server. My husband was looking for a way to be more active in our parish and honestly this was the least time commitment. 

We tend to like the Saturday night mass for a few reasons.

1.   Saturday night mass is a shorter mass. I don’t know why, but it is. I know this isn’t supposed to matter, I am there for God. I am giving him a small portion of my time for all he does for me.  However, when you have small children those extra 10 minutes can be a lifesaver.

2. After the Saturday mass they sometimes have wine. Go on Sunday morning and all you see is coffee and donuts, go Saturday night, you are served wine and cheese. This works as an appetizer, a nice way to start the evening.

3.     We like to go out to dinner after mass. We are all dressed up and looking pretty good, so we take advantage and take our kids out to dinner. Anywhere but McDonalds will do.

Now these reasons might not work for your families, but what does work?  I heard of parishes where if students wear their uniforms to Mass, they receive a free dress coupon. Sometimes just getting the children to ask their parents to take them is a big step. If they ask over and over again, the parents just might take them. At our children's school, a teacher assigned “going to mass” as homework.  Not sure if this will always work, but it did make my son think that going to Mass was required. 

What works at your school or parish?  How are you getting families to weekly mass?