Principals Get Lessons in Catholic Identity, Change Management

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More than 160 principals from Catholic elementary schools in the archdiocese attended a meeting last week at Marina Del Rey in the Bronx where Catholic identity and change management were the main topics of discussion.

Dr. Timothy McNiff, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, noted that Pathways to Excellence, the strategic plan for the archdiocese’s Catholic schools, features a special emphasis on Catholic identity. The other areas of concentration are leadership, academics, enrollment and marketing, and governance and finance.

As much as some things have changed, one thing hasn’t: faith remains at the forefront of a Catholic education. “It’s still about Jesus, and it’s still about getting our kids to understand it’s about a faith journey,” Dr. McNiff said.

Speaking to the principals at the daylong meeting Sept. 26, he emphasized the importance of their leadership role in the transmission of the faith to students, as well as directing the schools’ overall educational progress.

He told them that the archdiocese will do all it can to assist them and the other educators and school staff because “the more we do to help the adults, the better we get as an educational institute.”

During his presentation, the superintendent introduced Melody and Sam Di Piazza, the retired CEO of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

“Melody and I have been supporters of Catholic schools for a long time, in part because we believe in what you do,” Di Piazza said.

“Catholic education…we believe it’s the best hope for opportunity for our young people.”

The couple said they are working on a proposal to bring 10-minute vignettes of the “Catholicism” television series by Father Robert Barron into classrooms starting in New York.

Father Donald J. Harrington, president emeritus of St. John's University, gave
a keynote address on “Leadership and Change Management in Catholic Schools.”

During his presentation Father Harrington discussed how change is part of everyone’s life, and what change means for Catholic education, leadership and spirituality.

“Of all the professions, I don’t know if there is another profession that is more faced with great change than education,” he candidly told the educators in his midst.

For example, he listed technology, Common Core standards, learning methods, family units, society values and violence in schools, as just a few examples.

Catholic education, he added, has also changed dramatically. “You have your hands full,” he said.

But a lack of change, especially if that means ignoring effective learning new strategies and tools, is not a recipe for success. In fact, Father Harrington said, it may mean just the opposite.

“If there is not significant change going on in Catholic education, that can be the death knell,” he said. “There has to be change. We have to stay up to date with what is happening.