Soon school bells will be ringing across the eight-county Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and beyond as students head back to their classrooms for a new school year.
Summer is a busy time for pastors whose parishes have schools and for school leaders at both the elementary and high school level as they also prepare for the upcoming academic term. The diocesan Office of Catholic Education hosted a program recently for new pastors with parish schools and new school principals. A few new school presidents also attended the event on July 29 at the diocesan offices.
Diocesan school officials introduced themselves, explained their roles in the system and discussed the role of the OCE in diocesan schools. According to Tracey Arnone, associate superintendent for elementary schools, the purpose of the meeting was to facilitate a discussion between the pastor/principal or president/principal to address topics important to the shared leadership in a Catholic school.
Attendees got to know each other and discussed their vision for their schools. They also heard from Patrick Grace, executive director of the Catholic Community Foundation, who discussed how the foundation can help schools with tuition assistance and fundraising guidance. He also talked about the upcoming #weGiveCatholic day of online Catholic giving, which will take place on Nov. 30.
The event included lunch and additional discussion on communication, finances, faith leadership and school involvement. It ended with a blessing over the pastors, presidents and principals and a sending forth.