Greetings:

As I was driving to Seattle yesterday and listening to the Super Bowl, I couldn’t help but think about how much better the Seahawks have become as a football team since that six weeks between October and November when they went 3-3. After they lost games in two consecutive weeks and then got tripped up by the Chiefs, the last place I would have thought they’d end up was championship game in February. However, after the KC game, it appeared that with each passing week they improved … a lot. It was great to be a fan.

Beginning in November, every week the Seahawks passed their “test” better than the week before. The team and their 12^th Man could actually see real improvement from week to week so that by the middle of December, thinking that they could be playing in the last game of the year was not a far-flung idea. By the end of January, they definitely deserved to be playing in the Super Bowl.

I was entering the Columbia River Gorge, near George, WA when the miracle catch at the four yard line happened. Like all of Seattle, I thought the Seahawks would run it in the end zone and the game would be over soon … so it didn’t bother me that I lost the radio station as I started the long climb out of the Gorge.
Yep, I missed the final play. I got to the top of the canyon and the radio station came back. I listened in disbelief. The Patriots won? What? How? With no one to share the misery, I started to think of the positives.

They made it to the Super Bowl when in October, I thought that would have been impossible. It wasn’t the final game and the last fluke play that should be used to measure the team. Instead, we should look at how much the Seahawks improved from October to February. If there was a correlation of the team’s weekly performance to the amount they learned, one could say that the Seahawks took a weekly test that measured their amount they improved. And they improved a bunch in the last three months. That’s definitely a positive.

It’s kind of like how we can assess student learning. Certainly, the “final” matters. But we should also taking into consideration how much they improved before they take the final test. I believe that when we evaluate student knowledge, it is important that we take into consideration how much they have improved - their academic growth – as well as how they do on the final exam.

I would like to say “Thanks” to the vast majority of school administrators and many pastors who took time to meet at the Palisades last week. I was left with a very positive feeling about the Indices of Vitality and how we can improve them for next year. I was also left with a great impression of the leadership excellence that I getting to know in our Archdiocese.

Someone asked if I could share the aggregate information From the Indices of Vitality. They include:

2013-2014 - Catholic schools in Western Washington:

• 44% of our teachers are engaged in the CCP
• 83% of our employees are Catholic
• 76% of our students are Catholic
• 127 teachers left their teaching positions last year –
• The average FTE was 20.0
• Our student - teacher ratio was 16 to 1
• We raised $25.8 million in fundraising events / donations
• Our parishes provided $8.3 million in financial support
• We collected $192 million in tuition and fees
• Our total revenue was approximately $240 million

Peace and all good things…
pjh

Noteworthy:

From Strength to Strength Progress:

• Goal 3: AN ACCESSIBLE AND WELCOMING COMMUNITY
  
  • Action 1: Enrollment Management
    
    • Task 1: Every principal, PK through 12, will develop targets for optimal enrollment with plan for achieving them and for maximizing the retention of current families through all levels of Catholic education.
    
    
  
  

In our principals’ meeting, every school received a copy of his/her Indices of Vitality. The first chart on the top of the first page is the enrollment history from 2009 to 2014, including the “2014 Capacity”. Although the school’s “capacity” and its “optimal enrollment” could be very different numbers, I believe that there is a linkage between the two that deserves a thorough discussion with the Pastor (where applicable) and School Commission / Advisory Board. Let me explain.

Fifty years ago, the capacity of my brother’s first grade classroom was 50 children. And that was the number of children Sr. Deloris taught. Each day, she managed to keep an orderly classroom and teach the basics to the majority of children without the assistance of a classroom aide. Was this the “optimal number”? Certainly, most teachers would not support 50 primary grade students in one classroom. However, from a fiscal standpoint, 50 tuition paying students and one teaching salary provides a positive revenue for the school.

It depends on the definition of “optimal”. I offer the following definition for your consideration: Optimal Enrollment is the number of students in each classroom that maximizes a positive teaching and learning environment in a fiscally responsible manner. In the case of my brother’s classroom, 50 children and one teacher definitely maximizes the financial capacity of the classroom but even Sr. Deloris would have said that her room did not maximize the teaching and learning environment. So what is the optimal enrollment number for a Catholic school classroom?

In 2001, I participated in a study of a Catholic school system who wanted to determine their optimal enrollment number. After weeks of committee work involving many shareholders of the school community, the committee concluded the physical capacity of each classroom was 35 students but the optimal enrollment was 25. From there, the school implemented an enrollment plan and an instructional aide policy, both of which were based on the established “optimal enrollment number”. It worked for that school, at that time.

It is in that light that I would ask principals to help OCS complete this task of the Strategic Plan. Would you, in the approaching weeks, have a discussion with your pastor and School Commission / Advisory Board and begin investigating your school’s “optimal enrollment”? What is the number that maximizes the teaching and learning environment in a fiscally responsible manner? When you find that number, OCS would sincerely appreciate hearing from you.

Calendar:

This Week:

Mon OCS
Tue School Visit – St. Michael
Wed OCS
Thur WCEA Visit – Oakland, CA
Fri Celebration of Light – Fulcrum Foundation

Next Week:

Mon OCS and High School Choir Festival
Tue School Visit – Holy Names
Wed USCCB Meeting - DC
Thur USCCB Meeting - DC
Fri USCCB Meeting - DC

Articles worth sharing:

Religious Sisters Continuing Impact on Catholic Education
Faculty Formation, Hiring Are Critical in Strengthening Catholic Schools
Why I Send My Kids to Catholic School
Do Principals Have an Impossible Job?- Attached
Kennedy Catholic Announces Partnership with Seattle App Academy- Attached
Learning About Teaching from Learning- Attached