Catholic Schools Week is a time we celebrate the enduring value of Catholic education. Each year at this time, we focus on the many gifts a Catholic education offers our children, their families, and our community. This year’s theme, Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge, and Service, celebrates several those concepts that are at the heart of a Catholic education and distinguishes us from other educational institutions. These are also some reasons why families make sacrifices to provide a Catholic education to their children. The theme also highlights the fact as a school community we are part of many other communities, including our parish family, the Archdiocese, the City of Los Angeles, and our country.
Blessed Sacrament is truly a special community in the heart of Hollywood. Carrying out the legacy of Jesuit, Catholic education for nearly 100 years, we have taught the children of movie stars and entertainment tycoons. Today our demographics are different, but our mission still remains the same. Because of our unique location, we are a school that attracts students from the Hollywood Hills to Hollywood Boulevard, international students and parishioners. We truly are a cross-section of Hollywood and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Our guiding inspiration is the idea of Magis, a central Jesuit concept of seeking more, doing more for Christ, and therefore for others. Always going above and beyond what is expected to create a better society centered on Christ. Through our faculty and our curriculum, we attempt to instill this very concept in our students. We give them opportunities they might not otherwise have. We invite them to the larger world through directed fieldtrips and extra-curricular activities, we introduce them to those in need through service-learning projects, and we challenge them to participate in their faith in the hands-on, practical, transformative style of Pope Francis.
When students graduate Blessed Sacrament, they have been part of an academic community consciously going beyond and doing more than is required. It creates in our students a thirst for greatness and a hunger to be actively engaged. Blessed Sacrament students benefit from the outstanding examples of our young faculty, many of whom are pursuing graduate degrees themselves, bringing innovation into the classroom daily.
We see the benefits of our conscious adherence to Magis in the lives of our students. As a product of Catholic education, I am keenly aware of how Catholic schools helped to provide a foundation for my life. For many years I had the privilege of serving as a teacher and, now as an administrator in Catholic schools. My life and ministry have been immeasurably blessed by the gift of Catholic schooling.
Catholic Schools Week is a time for everyone to reaffirm the spiritual value of our children in the eyes of God, to encourage students to reach for academic achievement, to recognize parents for their sacrifices on behalf of their children's education, and to acknowledge teachers, staff and administration in Catholic schools for their loving dedication and professionalism.
On behalf of the faculty and staff, our students and their families, and our school community, thank you. Catholic Schools Week is also an opportune time for me to thank our faculty and staff, board members, parents and parishioners for their dedication and commitment to our school. As principal, I am blessed for all of your support. Thank you for continued prayers, generosity, and commitment to Blessed Sacrament School.
During the week, I hope you will join me in pausing to thank and to pray for those who help light the way for so many in our school community.