Keeping the Faith strategic plan launches to strengthen schools throughout diocese

After five years of research, input and planning, the Keeping the Faith strategic plan for elementary education has launched.

The plan was unveiled Jan. 30 – during Catholic Schools Week -- in three sessions. Pastors and principals were invited to a presentation at St. Albert the Great Parish Life Center that afternoon. They heard from Father Don Oleksiak, vicar general and moderator of the curia; Bishop Edward Malesic; Father John Betters, pastor of SS. Robert and William and St. John of the Cross parishes in Euclid and the bishop’s liaison to KTF; Jim Gulick, chief financial officer for the diocese; and Frank O’Linn, superintendent of schools.

Two condensed versions of the program were presented later in the day. A livestreamed webinar was offered for teachers that afternoon and parents were invited to watch a program in the evening.

(See photo gallery above with representative images from all three presentations.)

Keeping the Faith, also known as KTF, originated in 2018 during the time Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Perez was bishop of Cleveland. Father Betters wrote to the bishop inquiring about the direction of schools in the diocese. One of Father Betters’ parishes – SS. Robert and William – has a school.

The letter resulted in the creation of an ad hoc think tank that produced a report in 2019 outlining challenges and opportunities and emphasizing the need for a strategic master plan for schools. Later that year, KTF groundwork began. However, progress was hampered by the global pandemic in 2020. Later that year, work resumed after Bishop Malesic’s installation, with the process beginning formally in January 2021.

Since then, more than 60 people, consisting of diverse professionals from across the diocese representing schools, parishes and organizations from all eight counties, participated on task force committees. Hundreds more weighed in during listening sessions in the winter and spring of 2021-2022. Leading the process was a steering committee representing critical areas from the field and the diocese.

The KTF strategic plan is the result of nearly two years of collaboration, listening, prioritizing and strategizing. It reaffirms the purpose and value of Catholic education and envisions an evolution in how elementary schools will deliver on this purpose to ultimately strengthen what the schools provide.

“Our schools represent one of the largest and most important ministries of our Church,” the bishop said, noting they are “the most comprehensive youth ministry program we have. Our Catholic schools have helped students blossom into men and women of virtue and to grow into the people God created them to be.”

In a letter introducing the KTF plan, the bishop said he has a multi-pronged philosophy of Catholic schools:

• We are called to missionary discipleship and the world needs what Catholic schools have to offer: integral development of the whole person and formation of persons who re fully alive in Christ being perfected in freedom and loving according to the Gospel.

• We must cast out into the deep, leading with zeal and moving forward without fear to be proactive and strategic, embrace transparency, communicate the value of a Catholic education and offer appropriate support to the schools.

• This is the responsibility of the entire Catholic community. The bishop said every parish would be associated with a school as part of its mission to evangelize the youth. However, that support will vary and would include more than just financial assistance. There are many opportunities to help support the schools, he added.

• We are one body in Christ. The bishop said the Lord is calling us to act as one with him, using the diversity of gifts and talents each of us has received.

Father Betters emphasized that Catholic schools in the diocese have a solid foundation upon which to build.

“We have an extraordinary opportunity, as many believe that the Catholic Christian message is needed now more than ever. We can and will help form saints and scholars for future generations. We have an incredible future full of much hope as we allow God’s plans for our diocese to unfold,” Father Betters added.

There are six strategic areas at the heart of the KTF plan:

• Catholic identity -- Articulating a common vision, language and approach that communicates the identity as Catholic schools and standards for faith formation and education; developing a faith and mission formation program for onboarding and ongoing support of all Catholic school employees, students and families and establishing a diocesan position responsible for ensuring fidelity to the standards for Catholic identity, mission and culture and faith formation in each school.

• Academic excellence – Articulating a common vision, langue and approach communicating high expectations for curriculum, instruction assessment and school culture; sharing school quality information with increased transparency; ensuring adoption of a standards-based curriculum in all schools; facilitating the use of research-based core instructional practices to support all students’ intellectual engagement and virtues; implementing best practices for using assessment data to ensure robust academic growth of all learners; supporting students’ social and emotional needs to foster the spiritual, academic and personal growth of each student and empowering schools to explore innovative models to meet the needs of their communities.

• Leadership and talent – Developing a robust, centralized recruitment strategy; enhancing the onboarding process for priests and other leaders; developing and implementing formal programs to assist principals with professional development; and building a comprehensive principal pipeline to recruit, support, evaluate and promote principalship in Catholic elementaries.

• Finance – Developing guidance for allocation of parish and diocesan resources to Catholic school education; developing global funding strategy for all diocesan elementary schools that defines best practices for setting tuition, financial aid, maximizing available public funding, endowments and fundraising; developing comprehensive cost models; conducting comprehensive facilities assessments in all schools and a establishing a school vitality assessment.

• Governance – Articulating the means by which each parish will support a school pastorally and/or financially; developing an updated menu of governance options; and developing a process for parishes and schools to explore local needs and assess potential changes.

• Marketing – Building the capacity of all elementaries for effective local marketing by providing leadership and support from a new diocesan-level marketing position and developing and implementing a comprehensive marketing plan for Catholic education in the diocese with an emphasis on elementary schools.

“The purpose of Keeping the Faith is to strengthen the system of Catholic education in order to keep irresistibly Catholic, academically excellent, operationally sound and geographically accessible schools available across the diocese,” Bishop Malesic said. Strengthening Catholic elementary education throughout collaboration invites the Church to healthier functioning as one body in Christ, he added.

The next steps include offering webinars in the spring and summer to ensure everyone understands the six KTF focus areas. Group meetings will begin in September to initiate the collaborative process for strengthening Catholic education in each area of the diocese.

KTF committee members said the plan also could be adapted in the future to help strengthen high schools across the diocese.

Click here for additional resources and information on KTF, including a video.