Foundations to Explore Sustainable Partnerships For Catholic Schools of The Future/ FADICA to Honor Big Shoulders Fund
Washington, DC – – Private foundations sharing an interest in new approaches to Catholic school financing and governance will meet next month to hear how several dioceses have fostered a more cooperative approach to the future of their Catholic schools. The conference, part of FADICA’s 35th annual meeting, will feature a keynote presentation by Bishop William E. Lori of the Diocese of Bridgeport. The Bridgeport Diocese is one of several dioceses which is taking a more proactive role in centralizing the management and support for its Catholic schools, monitoring their quality, and insuring that all parishes are involved in the school apostolate. This gathering of grant makers will also hear from Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J., on the success of a Catholic school partnership between B.C. and the Archdiocese of Boston. Father Leahy will share what he has learned through a joint effort to reinvigorate Saint Columbkille School located in the Brighton section of Boston, Massachusetts. In 2006, an historic Catholic School partnership established a new governance model for Saint Columbkille School—the first of its kind for Catholic education in the United States. Saint Columbkille Parish, the Archdiocese of Boston, and have combined their resources in educational leadership, finance and enrollment management, student development, academic practice and research, facilities management, and religious formation to create a flagship Catholic school in Boston and a new national model of excellence in Catholic elementary education. The partnership resources have made possible ongoing physical plant improvements, increased financial aid, and graduate training for all eligible faculty fully sponsored by the