Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
August 22, 2001
Office of Catholic Schools adds chiefs
Three new hires to expand education services
By Alwen Bledsoe
Just in time for the 2001-2002 school year, the Office of Catholic Schools has added three new administrators, which should ease the burden from the previous lone two and help the office expand its services, school officials said.
Last year the Archdiocese of Denver's 38 parish elementary schools and two archdiocesan high schools served 14,249 students, said Susan Murphy, previously associate superintendent and now associate superintendent of technology and planning. Until now, said Betsy H. Boyle, superintendent and secretary for Catholic education, only herself and Murphy staffed the education office, which supervises all aspects of the 40 schools.
The three new administrators are Mary Catherine Keating, assistant secretary for Catholic Schools and deputy superintendent; Sister Elizabeth Youngs, S.C.L., associate superintendent of curriculum and staff development; and Dick Thompson, associate superintendent of personnel and supervision. With their addition, several changes are afoot for Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Denver, said Boyle.
Prior to hiring the new administrators, her job was an overwhelming one, said Boyle, and added with a laugh that Murphy used to introduce herself as the "associate superintendents."
Keating, Thompson, and Youngs all come to their new positions with experience in education and administration ranging from pre-school to high school and are "steeped in the traditions of Catholic education," said Boyle.
They have all held high-level administrative positions in diocesan schools and bring with them a collective expertise that is "amazing," said Boyle. Their addition gives the Office of Catholic Schools the opportunity to expand in several areas that are long overdue, she said.
The Office of Catholic Schools serves two purposes, Boyle said. The superintendent position relates only to parish and archdiocesan schools, supervising academics and religious identities of the schools. The secretariat relates to all Catholic schools in the archdiocese, which extends from south Denver to Wyoming, in regards to "Catholic identity and Catholic culture," ensuring that Catholic schools adhere to orthodox Catholic teachings on faith and doctrine, she said.
With the new hires, said Boyle, the secretariat of Catholic schools will be able to form relationships with between 23 and 40 preschools and day cares and a myriad of Catholic home-schooling families who previously had little or no relationship with the archdiocese.
"What I really see is that in the four years that I've been at the helm of the school system and then the secretariat, we've not had a complete office in order to serve our schools and we can't just sit still," Boyle said. "We need to always be looking at ways to renew ourselves and to do that in the traditions of Catholic schools.
"We definitely now can better serve all of the schools as well as the homeschoolers and the preschoolers who have not previously really had a relationship with our office, and I'm really looking forward to building those new relationships."
Catholic school enrollment has grown consistently for 10 years, said Murphy, a trend she expects to continue during the 2001-2002 school year.
In the midst of that growth, the Office of Catholic Schools faces the strains of limited finances, a nation-wide shortage of teachers, and, soon, more demand for Catholic education than the schools can supply, said Boyle.
That growth, said Boyle, reflects Archbishop Charles Chaput's commitment to Catholic education as well as what she sees as a growing number of families wanting to return to faith-based education.
"We're seeing a trend in the United States where people are coming back to faith," said Boyle, later adding, "As we see people growing in that, we see people of all faiths wanting a faith-based approach to education."
The total minority population of the archdiocesan schools last year was 25 percent, 16.5 percent Hispanic, said Murphy.
As a result, said Boyle, multi-lingual education is on the rise, and the archdiocese's principals have expressed a commitment to making sure students do not lose their primary language or culture, but are instead assisted in also learning English, a sentiment she seconds, said Boyle.
"We don't want to erase, but to supplement," she explained, adding that some schools, like Escuela de Guadalupe, focus on intense bilingual education while others supply aides within the classroom as well as supplemental language instruction for English as a Second Language students.
Another area that the schools will concentrate on next year is technology, added Boyle.
The addition of the three new hires "is going to assist our schools in getting to the levels they need to get to technologically," said Murphy. "I think it's also going to free me up to offer more workshops on the integration of technology into the curriculum, and more ways to help us fund the technology."
Laptops, palm pilots and videos are all making in-roads into the classroom, said Boyle. And many students, added Keating, have gravitated towards creating multi-media presentations using programs like PowerPoint, rather than the more traditional oral report.
The challenge, said Boyle, is to determine how to use technology appropriately so it supplements curriculum but is not used as a substitute for human interaction and solid subject matter, a question the office is still considering.
Another educational issue the schools will be addressing in the next year, said Keating, is "working with children with a variety of learning styles."
The prevailing attitude was once that if a child didn't learn, it was simply a problem with the child, said Boyle. Now educators understand that "not all kids learn the same way," she said.
And as teachers learn to accommodate learning styles from tactile to visual to auditory into their teaching, "the teachers need a lot of support," said Keating.
While that's a challenge, said Boyle, "We have to meet that challenge. We can't just leave these kids hanging."
The schools also will be adding new language arts, physical education and health curriculums, said Boyle.
"It's going to be a great team," said Murphy of the newly staffed office of Catholic education. "I think everyone is going to see a really strong team whose goal is to improve Catholic education."
Mary Catherine Keating
In her new position, Mary Catherine Keating will perform the dual role of assistant secretary for Catholic schools and deputy superintendent, serving as right-hand woman for Betsy H. Boyle, superintendent and secretary for Catholic schools.
"I will offer support in both areas and roles of service, but as deputy superintendent will be directing the operation of the school system," she said.
Creating a brand new job, as Keating is, is "a challenge," said Boyle.
Keating agreed, but said living up to that challenge is also exciting.
Keating comes to the archdiocese from Phoenix where she served for eight years as superintendent of schools in the Phoenix Diocese. She was chosen for her skills in marketing, administration, and especially for her "outstanding" public relations skills, said Boyle.
"She really stood out among the candidates," the superintendent said.
In addition, Boyle said, Keating has a strong background in curriculum, school law, finances and policy development.
Keating is looking forward to spending her first year getting to know the teachers, the principals and especially the children.
"That's what education is all about," said Keating, adding later that the education office is about providing service.
"I'm looking forward to continuing that tradition," she said.
Dick Thompson
Dick Thompson, new associate superintendent of personnel and supervision, has spent 35 years working in public and private education and most recently served for 10 years as superintendent in the Diocese of Rapid City in South Dakota.
Thompson will serve as general liaison between the archdiocese and its schools, will revise and oversee the principal and teacher evaluation processes, and will address sundry other matters relating to school personnel and supervision.
The learning curve for his new job has so far been quite steep as he has moved from supervising four to 40 schools and from working alone to working with four others, said Thompson.
On the other hand, he said, "the mission of Catholic education is so singular that I haven't seen anything that's surprised me."
Rather than simply filling a "bureaucratic slot," Thompson said he wants to craft his position into one of "relating with people and serving to make a difference in their lives."
Boyle said she was looking for and in Thompson found a good negotiator and mediator who would be able to calmly command respect and be able to bring school personnel around to a compromise when necessary. This talent, said Boyle, is the "particular expertise he brings to us."Sister Elizabeth Youngs, S.C.L.Sister Elizabeth Youngs, S.C.L., associate superintendent of curriculum and staff development, comes to the Archdiocese of Denver from six years as director of Billings Catholic Schools in Montana. Born and raised in Denver, Sister Youngs said moving back to Denver is a welcome homecoming. In her new position she will revise and oversee the archdiocese's curriculum in grades kindergarten through 12 and also will oversee programs to develop teacher and principal skills and licensure. The biggest change for her is adjusting to a larger school system and narrowing the focus of her job, said Youngs. She said she's looking forward to working as a part of a team rather than as a "lone ranger," and already sees a lot of shared expertise and vision among the five administrators. "We speak the same language," she said, later adding, "I'm very excited and pleased to be here." Betsy H. Boyle, superintendent and secretary for Catholic schools, said that Sister Youngs' job will include examining new trends in education to decide whether they are "fad or fact" and whether to include them in the schools' curriculum. Her challenge, said Boyle, will be to intertwine solid new educational theories and curriculum and the values of Church tradition. "Sister's experience in (staff development and curriculum) will enhance these areas and bring us up to date in the tradition of Catholic schools," said Boyle.
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