School leaders welcome Catholic students, parents, teachers to the 2024-25 school year (Back to school)
The start of a new school year always comes with a mix of emotions. We reluctantly leave behind summer travels and summer activities and jump into school year schedules.
Preparations for the 2024-2025 school year started before the 2023-2024 school year ended and continued throughout the summer months. School leaders and staff members have been busy ensuring that teacher and staff positions have been filled, books and supplies are stocked, class lists have been prepared, schedules and calendars have been finalized (or almost finalized), classrooms are ready, and floors are shining. All in anticipation of the return of students.
The summer loneliness of school halls will soon be filled with the joyful sound of students, teachers, and staff members. Those who spend time in school buildings during the summer months when students are not present will tell you the quiet is nice for the first day or two of summer, but then they begin to miss the energy of a school building filled with students and staff. Schools are about students. They are about community. They are about being connected to others.
The beginning of a new school year is a time for those who participate in the ministry of Catholic school education to reflect on the mission of our Catholic schools. In the document, The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School, we are reminded that “In a Catholic school, everyone should be aware of the living presence of Jesus the ‘Master’ who, today as always, is with us in our journey through life as the one genuine ‘Teacher,’ … in whom all human values find their fullest perfection.”
Our Catholic schools are fortunate to have many dedicated, faith-filled employees who have served in the ministry of Catholic education for decades. They model themselves after the Master teacher and bring such wisdom and witness to their school communities. They have been part of the educational experience of multiple generations within families. That familiarity and connectedness are vital to the sense of community that exists within our schools, a sense of community that is experienced in the present but also extends across time.
These stalwarts of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Newark have not only enriched the lives of students, but they have also been there over the years to mentor, guide, encourage, and support new colleagues as they begin their ministry in Catholic education. Often, these new colleagues are former students who were inspired by their experience in Catholic school and now seek to serve in the ministry of Catholic school education.
As we begin the 2024-2025 school year, we are mindful of those who toiled tirelessly to establish our Catholic schools and those who now work to sustain our schools and continue the legacy of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Newark. We are filled with gratitude for parents who recognize the value of a Catholic school education and choose to be part of the Catholic school community in the Archdiocese. We celebrate our students and pray that they may grow in friendship with Jesus and look to Him as “the way, the truth and the life” as they journey through life.
This message was written by Father Stephen Fichter, Episcopal Vicar of Education, and Barbara Dolan, Superintendent of Catholic Schools.
