(Editor’s Note: Following is the annual report on Archdiocesan schools submitted by Fr. Daniel O’Connor, Secretary for Education).

If we would look for one particular circumstance that distinguished the 1969-70 school year from others in the archdiocese, we could simply say that this year no school closed. In the last six years, we have seen five of our schools close their doors; so the fact that none closed last year would have been unusual enough in itself. What makes the fact even more interesting is that we could have begun the school year with one less school, and have ended by closing another. The fact that this did not happen deserves some comment.

The year could have opened with no school at St. Joseph in Athens. The Mission Sisters of the Sacred Heart had informed the parishioners that after 25 years of staffing St. Joseph’s Parish’ School, their own declining numbers would force them to withdraw their sisters at the end of the 1968-69 school year. One sister would remain in the parish to conduct its catechetical program. Most people assumed that the school’s fate was settled, that it could not operate without sisters, and that new sisters would be impossible to recruit, especially because such short notice had been given.

However, a group of parishioners were determined to keep the school open. Although forewarned that their efforts would be fruitless, they set out to approach religious communities throughout the country, asking them to staff their school. Enlisting the aid of key people within Athens and the university community, Catholic and not, they expressed their feelings on a tape which they sent all over the country. Somehow, the tape caught their enthusiasm and hope, and two religious communities responded to it. Finally, the Immaculate Heart of Mary nuns, who already staffed the school of SS. Peter and Paul in Decatur, agreed to open another house in the state of Georgia. When the school year opened in September of 1969, three nuns headed by Sister Thomas Bernard as Superior, were present at St. Joseph’s School. The prayers and the hard work of the people of Athens had borne fruit.

Then in October of the new school year, the Dominican Sisters informed the people of St. Mary’s in Rome that their reassessment of their order’s goals and priorities had led them to the decision that they could no longer staff that school. They would withdraw their nuns in June at the end of the academic year. Once again, the people of a parish decided that their school would remain open. Following the example of St. Joseph’s School in Athens, they published a brochure describing their community, and expressing their feelings about the contribution of their school to it. Again, the aid of all members of the community was enlisted, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. As was the case in Athens, the ecumenical aspect stood out in their communication. The parish sent the brochure to 80 different orders and received 79 negative responses. They received one affirmative one. The Daughters of Charity of Emmitsburg, Maryland agreed to open their first mission in Georgia and staff the school in September of 1971.

Still it appeared that the school might have to close for one academic year; but the people were not willing for even this short interval to pass without a school. They made a decision to keep the school open, staffed entirely by lay teachers. So for the first time in the history of the archdiocese, a school staffed entirely by lay teachers opened in September of 1970. Mrs. Doris Ragsdale filled the position of principal in the historic situation.

It is difficult to estimate just how much significance to place on these two instances. It is probably too much to say that they indicate a stabilizing trend in Catholic education after five years of disturbing change. It certainly indicates that a great many Catholic parents prefer a parochial school education for their children, and are willing to make extraordinary sacrifices to keep their schools. Both of these parishes are small and quite distant from metropolitan Atlanta. Whether this isolation is a factor or not is hard to say; perhaps it is. I believe, however, that we can learn one lesson from the circumstance, and that is this; our Catholic schools are not going to vanish overnight, nor will they disappear without strenuous efforts on the part of a large segment of the Catholic population to save them. Even where there is a very strong program of religious education, as was the case in St. Joseph in Athens, the special advantages of parochial education will still be desired by many parents for their children. This desire will be accompanied by a willingness to make great sacrifices. Pastors and parish boards of education can, I believe, learn a lesson from what happened last year.

Board of Education

In its fourth full year of operation, the Archdiocesan Board of Education achieved a goal that it had pursued from its beginning. This was to establish a hospitalization insurance plan to cover lay employees of the archdiocese, the majority of whom are teachers. This program compliments the continuing salary plan initiated almost six years ago under the Msgr. P. J. O’Connor’s superintendency. The hospitalization plan is as liberal as any offered in metropolitan school districts, and should prove a help to all parishes in recruiting lay teachers.

The board also established a hospitalization plan for the religious of the archdiocese as well as approving a salary increase of $250 for the coming year. This recognizes the extreme financial need of our sisters due to their declining numbers, the steady increase in the average age of religious, and the increased cost of living, especially in the area of education. The salary increase was accompanied by a new convent budget which clarified the responsibility between the parish and the sisters regarding their expenses.

The board also initiated a long range study of education in the archdiocese that it had approved last year. The first phase is a financial study to be conducted by the Department of Education Research of the Notre Dame University. Dr. Kenneth Brown, Ph.D., was named the director of the study. Half of the $6,000 cost was covered by a grant from the Mary Ryan, Henry G. Kuhrt Foundation. The purpose of the study is to find out the exact cost of education in each parish, including schools of religion. With this established, a uniform system of accounting and budgeting will be installed so that parish boards will have accurate figures on which to base their educational decisions. The study will be completed in the fall of 1970.

In line with the board’s intention to clarify the goals of every phase of the archdiocesan education program, a sub-committee was established to study the Campus Ministry, or Newman Apostolate. This committee will work with the director of Campus Ministry, and all full-time and part-time priests engaged in this area of archdiocesan education. They will complete the study in 1971.

Department of Catholic Education

Sister Grace Menton, G.N.S.H., joined the staff of this department in February of 1970. Sister Grace’s duties in the office will be in the area of curriculum, the administration of Title II funds, setting up and maintaining the audio-visual central library, and supervising the testing program of the archdiocese. Sister Grace’s first contribution was to make a complete evaluation of the elementary testing program. Her findings were most encouraging. In all grades the scores of the archdiocesan elementary children run significantly higher than the national norms. The eighth grade scores were especially interesting, because they indicate the achievement of students who have completed the entire elementary program in one of our schools. The test administered was the High School Placement Test published by Science Research Associates, a popular test used nationally. Since the test was given in March to the 8th grade, the National Median or desired score was 8.7 in each area tested. The median scores for students of the archdiocese in each subject area was as follows: Math 9.7, Reading 10.3, Language Arts 10.6, Social Studies 10.5,and Scientific Methods 10.3. The composite score for the 412 students taking the tests was 10.3 or approximately a year and a half above the national median. Because the SRA test is used by many Catholic schools throughout the country, the high score achieved by our eight graders should serve as a source of satisfaction to all who are interested and involved in the educational program of the archdiocese.

Elementary Education

Under the direction of Sister Mary Madeline, R.S.M., the elementary program in the parochial schools made significant advances in several different areas. Subject coordinators were designed for each school in each subject and a consultant to the Department of Catholic Education was appointed for each subject area. In the area of curriculum, a committee in each subject area was established to prepare guides in accordance with the needs and resources of each school. The first project of their study was a new social studies curriculum based on a multi-text, discovery, inquiry approach. The curriculum was used in the elementary schools last year for the first time.

Experimentation in the area of pupil progress reporting continued, and parent-teacher conferences with each child’s parents were conducted twice last year. Innovative teaching in various forms was introduced into several of the schools, including non-graded reading and math, individualized programs in the area of math, programs of independent study, team teaching, departmental teaching, and enrichment program for gifted students.

A comprehensive testing program of kindergarten and first grade children in several of the schools was undertaken. The Frostic test was administered by Sister Marie Foley and Miss Lorraine Zak of the Agency for Exceptional Children, to isolate possible learning disabilities in some youngsters at an age when disabilities are most easily overcome. The testing will be continued and broadened this year. The area of in-service was also greatly expanded, and significant advances were also made in the program of accreditation and affiliation of the schools with the Southern Association. The self-study for two of the schools was completed, and visitation by the state representative to establish readiness for self-study was accomplished in seven schools. It appears that many of the schools will meet the accreditation date of 1972.

Secondary Education

In both high schools the program of modular scheduling and independent study were redefined and broadened. At St. Pius X High School where Father Richard Kieran succeeded Father John Cotter, a Development Committee was formed with the purpose of making long range plans for the development of the school. The first step of the committee was to expand the school’s library space by a renovation of the old chapel. The area where the library was previously located will now be used as a place for independent study.

The continuing cost of secondary education will be noticed in the budget for the coming year, and necessitated another rise in tuition. For the first time the tuition for the two schools was not the same. At St. Pius X High School the tuition for the first child rose from $250 to $350. At St. Joseph High School tuition for the first child rose from $250 to $275. Tuition at St. Joseph was kept lower because the Raskob Foundation allowed the archdiocese to use the money obtained from the sale of Drexel High School to defray the expenses of the downtown high school.

Office of Religious Education

Two full-time staff members were added to the Office of Religious Education during the past year. Sister Mary Zoghby, R.S.M., was named coordinator of the secondary level, and Sister Audrey Pierce, I.H.M., was named coordinator of the elementary level. The increased staff in the Office of Religious Education was paralleled by the continued increase in the number of full-time religious education coordinators in the parishes. Last year 14 parishes had full-time coordinators, and several more than one. Next year at least two more parishes will hire full-time coordinators. The increased staff was accompanied by constantly increased expenditures, both for the central office, and for individual parishes. I feel that it is safe to say that religious education in the Archdiocese of Atlanta is receiving financial support surpassing (proportionately) the vast majority of dioceses throughout the country.

Not surprisingly, where full-time personnel are employed in religious education, work seems to generate itself, and the programs of both the Office of Religious Education and the individual parishes grew last year both in size and quality. During the past year, the Archdiocesan Board of Education handed over the responsibility of all religious education including the programs in parochial and diocesan schools to Father Morris’ office. Although there will be coordination with the directors of elementary and secondary education and with religious coordinators in the individual schools, the curriculum and in-service training of all religious teachers will be the responsibility of Father Morris’ staff.

A new curriculum for grades K-8 has been drawn up for the coming year and a gradual strengthening of high school religious programs was also undertaken. Perhaps the most pressing challenge to the office is a means of accurately evaluating the results of the various religious education programs. This is a problem that is being faced nationally by all religious educators; and in our own archdiocese, Father Morris and his staff have prepared a self-evaluation sheet to be used next year in all schools and parishes. It will take years to refine such evaluation methods, but a beginning has been made and we are confident that improvement will come rapidly.

Campus Ministry

The program of the Campus Ministry made its biggest gain at Atlanta University where Father John Foley, C.S.C., took over the task. Father Foley moved into the quarters of the University’s Canterbury House and provided a varied and imaginative program in conjunction with the effort of the Episcopal Church. He used personnel from both the faculty of the university and the student body at the center to provide a sound program that combined information and social activities, with a living spiritual influence.

As a sub-committee from the Archdiocesan Board of Education found, there is still a real need to set specific goals for the campus ministry program. No one expects a completely uniform program on each campus. The make-up of the student body, its size, the personality of the priest in charge, all demand flexibility and originality that must be individual. Nevertheless, the Archdiocesan Board feels that there must be some clarification of the efforts of this program in order to justify the expense, and to give us some means of evaluating a program’s success and failure.

Prospects For The New School Year

In conclusion, we may say that the education program of the archdiocese advanced in many areas last year, and continued to be sparked by an enthusiasm and vitality that indicates a remarkable dedication on the part of all involved in it. Of course, we cannot be content. Many problems are present to challenge us. Administrators and faculties must dedicate themselves to making our schools as fine as they can be. The goal of every single faculty must constantly be to reappraise curriculums and teaching methods and materials to insure that we are challenging each individual child to grow, to become responsible, to use each of his talents to its limits, and to prepare himself for his life long task which is to learn. Although we can be pleased with our successes, there are enough challenges to keep us humble. We rededicate ourselves to the task for another year.