Catholic Identity
According to the WCEA, the Catholic Identity of a school is comprised of two key elements—one, how the faculty and staff live a Christ-centered life; and two, how well the school is preparing the students for the future. Although the non-graded school structure will be unique for the Archdiocese, the Catholic Identity of Santa Clara High School will continue to be of utmost importance and will follow the WCEA standards.
Measuring how the faculty and staff live a Christ-Centered life:
- Participate in monthly mass with the students.
- Prepare students for the sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Communion.
- Prayer and religious studies will be present throughout the day.
- School and classrooms, specifically, have symbols of the Catholic faith.
- Adjust mission statement and SLE’s to align with Catholic teachings.
- Continuous formation through inservices, conferences and the Catechetical Certificate Program (University of Dayton).
- Develop a relationship with families to increase involvement of faith formation—primary educators are families.
Measuring how the school is preparing the students for the future:
- Develop a community service program.
- Ability to collaborate with others of various ages through non-graded structure.
- Encourage students to enter Confirmation program.
- Ability to understand and accept differences in others, instead of labeling.
- Students will be task and goal-oriented.
- Students will be able to effectively communicate.
- Develop inquiring minds, instead of content-driven.