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As Mary Grassa O'Neill addressed faculty from six local Catholic schools yesterday at Xaverian Brothers High School, she mentioned a meeting of Archdiocese of Boston principals and pastors who "were lamenting the fact that high school people and elementary people never talk to each other, and they never get a chance."
Grassa O'Neill, the archdiocese's secretary of education and superintendent of schools, said the area's Catholic schools instruct everyone from 3-year-olds on up to postgraduate students. "But we haven't always talked well to one another," she said.
A new Partnership of Catholic Schools, highlighted at Xaverian yesterday, is intended to change that.
The partnership is bringing together people from Xaverian, Blessed Sacrament School in Walpole, Saint Catherine of Siena School in Norwood, St. John the Evangelist School in Canton, Monsignor Haddad Middle School in Needham and Saint Paul School in Wellesley.
"We are very, very delighted that this partnership has been formed among some of our strongest schools in the archdiocese and at one of our strongest high schools. It's a visionary partnership," Grassa O'Neill told about 250 teachers and administrators who gathered at Xaverian for a professional development day, and to celebrate the new effort.
The superintendent credited Xaverian's headmaster, Brother Daniel Skala, for coming up with the idea.
Skala said he wanted the schools to collaborate to make "a seamless transition from middle school to high school" and to view Catholic education in terms of the entire region.
"Because of our strength, we know that we can accomplish more working together than we can as individual schools," Skala said in an interview.
"No matter if you're teaching kindergarten or seniors in high school, our goal is the same - to help young people understand how important they are, and to help them to understand their faith better," he said, adding that the schools also share values of community and academic excellence.
Under the partnership, boys who successfully complete middle school at one of the partner schools, meet Xaverian's admissions criteria and apply to Xaverian will be automatically accepted into the high school.
The partnership's efforts include professional development, especially that tied to technology; aligning curricula between middle school and high school grades; getting school leaders to talk more; and sharing computer labs, athletic fields and theaters.
Skala said Xaverian hosts a summer academy in which middle school students take enrichment courses in art, music and other subjects. Last night, Xaverian put on a program for parents from partnership schools on bullying, particularly cyber-bullying.
"We have extraordinary resources here, and we want to share what we have with the other Catholic schools," he said.
Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
As Mary Grassa O'Neill addressed faculty from six local Catholic schools yesterday at Xaverian Brothers High School, she mentioned a meeting of Archdiocese of Boston principals and pastors who "were lamenting the fact that high school people and elementary people never talk to each other, and they never get a chance."
Grassa O'Neill, the archdiocese's secretary of education and superintendent of schools, said the area's Catholic schools instruct everyone from 3-year-olds on up to postgraduate students. "But we haven't always talked well to one another," she said.
A new Partnership of Catholic Schools, highlighted at Xaverian yesterday, is intended to change that.
The partnership is bringing together people from Xaverian, Blessed Sacrament School in Walpole, Saint Catherine of Siena School in Norwood, St. John the Evangelist School in Canton, Monsignor Haddad Middle School in Needham and Saint Paul School in Wellesley.
"We are very, very delighted that this partnership has been formed among some of our strongest schools in the archdiocese and at one of our strongest high schools. It's a visionary partnership," Grassa O'Neill told about 250 teachers and administrators who gathered at Xaverian for a professional development day, and to celebrate the new effort.
The superintendent credited Xaverian's headmaster, Brother Daniel Skala, for coming up with the idea.
Skala said he wanted the schools to collaborate to make "a seamless transition from middle school to high school" and to view Catholic education in terms of the entire region.
"Because of our strength, we know that we can accomplish more working together than we can as individual schools," Skala said in an interview.
"No matter if you're teaching kindergarten or seniors in high school, our goal is the same - to help young people understand how important they are, and to help them to understand their faith better," he said, adding that the schools also share values of community and academic excellence.
Under the partnership, boys who successfully complete middle school at one of the partner schools, meet Xaverian's admissions criteria and apply to Xaverian will be automatically accepted into the high school.
The partnership's efforts include professional development, especially that tied to technology; aligning curricula between middle school and high school grades; getting school leaders to talk more; and sharing computer labs, athletic fields and theaters.
Skala said Xaverian hosts a summer academy in which middle school students take enrichment courses in art, music and other subjects. Last night, Xaverian put on a program for parents from partnership schools on bullying, particularly cyber-bullying.
"We have extraordinary resources here, and we want to share what we have with the other Catholic schools," he said.
Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
