Grant to Strengthen Catholic Identify in Catholic Schools
 “Revitalizing Catholic Identify through Catholic Education” (Project RICE) 

By Larry Keough
January 23, 2007

TALLAHASSEE – Catholic schools exist because they are uniquely providing a diocesan education that is steeped in the Gospel Values of our faith.  

If it were not for Catholicity as the cornerstone of our schools, then Catholic schools would cease to exist. Certainly, select public schools offer international baccalaureate programs. Designated charter, magnet and arts schools, as well as independent private schools, provide academic excellence for precocious students who desire a college preparatory-type curricula.  

Although Catholic schools are renown for their academic excellence too, they are much more than that. Catholic schools embrace a three-fold mission to spiritually nurture the soul, develop the mind and build the body. The mission statements of the 224 Catholic schools in Florida are markedly similar in that they clarify the raison d’etre – their purpose for being, which is to help pass on the Catholic faith to children in such a way that the faith is understood, valued and integrated into the whole pattern of students’ lives. 

There is optimism that Catholic identify in Catholic schools will continue to strengthen well into the 21^st century. Optimism abounds in part because a subcommittee of the Florida Catholic school superintendents received an $875,000 grant for Catholic school leadership. The grant, known as the Revitalizing Catholic Identity through Catholic Education (Project RICE), from the “Marie V. Gendron Bequest” to the Adrian Dominican Sisters, assures that $350,000 will be available for the next two years. The balance of the grant is conditional, primarily on the basis of diocesan support.  

The grant, through a three-year master’s degree program in Catholic school leadership at a Catholic university, would provide aspiring principals and/or current principals with a theological basis for them to effectively inculcate the Gospel Values in the curriculum and throughout the school community. The master’s degree program is based on the foundation statement that the mission of Catholic schools begins with Catholic school leadership.

 If the principal of the Catholic school has a strong educational background in Catholic school leadership, including a theological basis, then it follows that he or she will have a lucid understanding as to how to implement the school’s mission into the overall community.   

Moreover, the grant is an investment for the greater good when considering the correlation between Catholic school leadership and a study by the Heritage Foundation that concluded Catholic school graduates are more likely than their public school counterparts to be more imminently involved in parish ministries, marry in the Church, raise their children Catholic and give back to the Church.  

The deadlines for master’s degree candidates to submit a statement of intent to his or her principal for the 2007 summer program was Jan. 16. An estimated  25 candidates from the seven Florida dioceses are expected to participate in the summer master’s degree program at Barry University. If that number of candidates materializes, the balance of the tuition not paid by the grant will be discounted for the candidates.   

For those interested in pursuing the program in 2008, the grant is $4,000 per year if attending Barry University, or $3,000 if attending other Catholic universities. The grant is to be used for study at a Catholic university to earn a master’s degree in Catholic Educational Leadership, a special degree in Catholic Educational Leadership, or to complete requirements for the Florida Educational Leadership certificate.  

Grant applicants must be employed in the Catholic school system for a minimum of two years and be recommended by his or her current principal, who in turn makes a recommendation to the diocesan superintendent. Enrollment is during summer sessions not to exceed three years.  

Following completion of the program, participants are required to provide three years of service. If a position as an administrator is not available in the participant’s area of residence, the participant may apply in another Florida diocese or to another Catholic school in the United States.  

Catholic school leadership is one of several themes identified by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in their 2005 statement entitled, “Renewing our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium.” In addition to encouraging Catholic school leaders to strategize how to strengthen the Catholicity of Catholic schools, the statement also urges administrators to offer solutions such that tuition is affordable for middle-income and working poor families, educational opportunities are available to a higher number of students who are Limited English Proficient (LEP), disabled or at-risk, as well as attracting committed and dedicated faculty while paying them a fair and just wage.  

Project RICE consists of three program elements. Catholic school teachers who aspire to be principals would participate in the discernment process and then enroll in the master’s degree program (see below). New principals would participate in the Principals’ Institute and the master’s degree program. Following are the definitions of these elements: 

Discernment Process --  Provides for an opportunity for current Catholic school faculty who want to become a Catholic school principal. In this process, the faculty member would be able to obtain information about the role of a Catholic school leader by attending diocesan meetings and gatherings while receiving mentorship in the process. Following the discernment process, they would begin the degree program.   

Principles’ Institute is currently held two times a year for new principals to attend.  Those attending the Principals’ Institutes, a three-day program held in the fall and spring, focuses on the role of the principal as the spiritual, educational and managerial leader of the Catholic school. Presentations would include but not be limited to the spiritual formation of principals sharing policies, as well as budgetary and legal sessions.  

Master’s Degree Program in Catholic School Leadership – Candidates would enroll in the program at one of several Catholic Colleges or universities such as the University of Notre Dame and Barry University that offer a master’s degree in Catholic school leadership. The course work would be designed to prepare the candidate in all facets of Catholic school leadership with an emphasis on how to apply Catechetical ministry such that the school community actively lives the Gospel Values.

Larry Keough is the Associate Director of Education at the Florida Catholic Conference and the legislative advocate for Florida Catholic Schools.