Panelists: Mission Schools offer hope to disadvantaged students

Addressing challenges that Catholic mission schools face in nurturing the minds and souls of students, including those whose families lack resources for tuition, requires community support, a panel of education experts said Nov. 18 as they discussed the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Drexel Mission Schools Initiative at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

“Every student that I look at in the eye, I think, this is a soul for Christ,” said panelist Yen Fasano, associate director of the effort in the archdiocese’s Office for the Mission of Catholic Education. “If people are really dedicated to amplifying their gifts and their dignity and calling out their potential, that doesn’t change. But what changes are the resources needed to support the Drexel Mission Schools.”

Part of the St. Paul-based Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota’s “Giving Insights” series exploring philanthropy’s impact, the event focused on ways Catholic mission schools, which offer tuition and other assistance to disadvantaged students, help create a more equitable society.

Donors, local and national education leaders were among 112 people who viewed the discussion either online or at the university. CCF, which helps steward financial investments and philanthropy of Catholic parishes, individuals and institutions, co-hosted the forum with the Aim Higher Foundation, also based in St. Paul, which provides scholarships for Catholic elementary school students with demonstrated need.

Panelists discussed accessibility, challenges of hiring and retaining teachers, college and workforce preparation, societal impact and other issues.

The Drexel Mission Schools Initiative, introduced by the archdiocese last year, includes 10 K-8 archdiocesan schools serving 1,800 students from low-income backgrounds. The schools receive programming and services in exchange for meeting excellence standards. More than 50 percent of the students in each school qualify for free or reduced lunch, and more than half are students of color.

Mission schools can play a transformative role, said Anne Cullen Miller, president of CCF, which through its work financially supports the Catholic community’s spiritual, educational and social needs.

“They’re not only helping individual students reach their greatest potential, but they’re shaping our society and building up our Church,” she said.

Challenges, including Catholic school closures around the country, are concerning, said Ricky Austin, forum moderator and Aim Higher Foundation’s vice president of advancement and operations.

“I don’t think we’d be here in this room (with) everything Catholic schools have accomplished and all the incredible benefits they’ve produced, if they weren’t facing some sort of headwinds,” he said. “There are numerous and well documented challenges facing Catholic schools across the country.”

Achievement gaps exist, but Catholic education is reducing them and training students for success, participants said. Minnesota schools have had some of the largest achievement gaps by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in the nation, according to an October 2019 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

The Church’s Gospel mission and the history of American Catholic schools support making Catholic education available to students of all income backgrounds, said panelist Elias Moo, Catholic schools superintendent in the Archdiocese of Denver.

“We believe deeply that our charter is to bring this beautiful educational patrimony to all children, all families, because everyone deserves to experience the richness of the Church’s educational charter,” Moo said.

Students prepare for more than college, he said.

“When you inevitably lift up the expectations … beyond how ‘useful’ their education can be for them, in essence what you’re doing is giving them a glimpse of what more they’re capable of and what they’re created for ultimately,” Moo said.

In the Cristo Rey network of 38 college preparatory high schools around the country, students can gain corporate work study experience as part of their education, said Elizabeth Goettl, president and CEO of the Chicago-based effort, which includes Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis. All Cristo Rey students are from low-income backgrounds.

“It’s a remarkable opportunity for our students to envision a future different from the ones their parents had access to,” Goettl said.

Catholic education has changed from the 20^th century, when religious sisters ran schools with few resources, said Jesuit Father Christopher Collins, vice president for mission at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Continuing to create pathways for people who want to teach in a Catholic school requires community assistance, he said.

“I think there are great opportunities to think about: How do we align the institutions that we do have, so that we can provide that stable pipeline of teachers that will be a steady influence for our young people going forward?” he said.

With faculty support, Drexel Mission School students are learning to be faith and civic leaders, Fasano said.

“They’re not just scholars,” she said, “they’re souls for Christ that really will heal and unite the society, and we need to work together to do that.