Catholic School Leaders Explore Strategies for Outreach to Latino Community in CSA Summer Programs
The summer of 2013 proved to be one of tremendous growth for two of the Catholic School Advantage Campaign's biggest initiatives – the Latino Enrollment Institute (LEI) and the School Pastors Institute (SPI). Both of these conferences – in their second and third year, respectively – brought together leaders in K-12 Catholic education from around the country to discuss new strategies to better reach out to the Latino community.
In June, ACE welcomed 32 Catholic school principals, representing 18 (arch)dioceses, to the campus of Notre Dame for the second annual Latino Enrollment Institute – a 4-day workshop focused exclusively on ways to increase Latino enrollment in Catholic Schools. School principals, along with two to three of their staff and faculty members, gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding Latino recruitment and enrollment.
The LEI Design Team, which consists of eight Catholic school principals (and former principals) who have all successfully turned around a school on the brink of closing, presented various strategies to more effectively market to and engage Latino families, sharing personal testimonies about their efforts to reach out to the Latino community, as well as the new life that these families brought to their schools. The mentor principals will each continue to work with a group of LEI schools throughout the current school year, aiding in implementation through direct correspondence and visits to the schools.
In July, 105 pastors who have the privilege – and indeed, challenge – of overseeing a parish school, gathered at Notre Dame for the third annual School Pastors Institute. The SPI is an innovative pastoral and administrative formation conference for school pastors on core issues of Catholic identity, financial management and advancement, formation of personnel, and of course, ways to more effectively engage Latino families and invite them into fuller participation in Catholic schools. The pastors in attendance were each nominated by their respective (arch)bishop in an effort to better equip them to handle the increasingly complex challenges and opportunities associated with serving as the pastor of a parish with a school. This past summer, the SPI, like the LEI, welcomed its largest group of participants yet. The 105 pastors in attendance represented 38 (arch)dioceses.
While the Latino Enrollment Institute and the School Pastors Institute are just two of the many innovative workshops offered during the busy "ACE Summer," they have truly become the core of the Catholic School Advantage Campaign's mission strategy. Local leadership that understands and knows how to respond to the specific needs of the Latino community, whether it be pastoral or administrative, is essential if our Catholic schools are to succeed in offering the best possible education to the children who need it most. The tremendous growth of both the Latino Enrollment Institute and the School Pastors Institute has been a testament to the desire and commitment of Catholic school leaders to fulfill this mission.
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