Dear FCS Parents, Guardians, Families and Community Members,
It's often easier to understand complex concepts when presented as stories. Jesus used parables, Aesop used fables, and John Kotter used penguins. In his book Our Iceberg Is Melting, Kotter presents an allegory about change that I found highly insightful when I first read it almost 20 years ago. Kotter presents the story of a penguin named Fred who discovers that the iceberg his colony is living on is melting. Fred immediately presents his concerns to various community members, only to be shut down and shunned. Even when he presents the group with complex data, they refuse to do anything that might help the severe problem. Finally, Fred gets someone to listen to him, but changing the attitudes of the other penguins and finding a solution is a group effort involving penguins with various skills and even a seagull.
When a new Superintendent started at a diocese where I was principal, he presented this book to the leaders of the 40+ schools in the diocese. What followed could only be described as anarchy. Many of the leaders were so incensed that this superintendent would suggest that the Catholic schools they led needed to change to survive that they completely shut down and refused to engage in conversation about the book. Yet, all the data around Catholic school attendance supported the fact that our "iceberg" was melting. In 2002, 2,490,000 students attended Catholic schools; in 2022, that number was down to 1,693,000. Catholic schools have lost 32% of their students over the last 20 years. The schools in the Diocese of Fresno have not been immune to this enrollment decline. In the past six years, enrollment dropped by 21%, going from 5,603 students in 2018 to 4,401 in 2023. If this trend continues, there will come a time in the not-so-distant future when a Catholic education will not be available to families in the Central Valley.
I think it's clear that "Fred" has alerted us to a big problem we must solve. The Fresno Catholic School System was created to investigate and implement unique and innovative approaches to Catholic education that challenge the traditional model that has existed since the 1800s. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome, then it's time for us to remove ourselves from this cycle and become a beacon for Catholic education across the country. Solving the shrinking iceberg problem in Our Iceberg is Melting eventually led to the penguins joining together and moving to a new iceberg that looked a lot different from the one they were used to, but that was strong enough to stand the test of time and meet their needs well into the future.
Autumn Blessings,
Pamela Lyons
FCS President
Academic Rigor at SJM
The increased student enrollment in AP classes and SJM's past success highlights the challenge our students desire and what their AP program provides. This marks an increase in students enrolled in AP classes and exams taken during the 2023-2024 school year.
Elective Opportunities at Holy Cross Junior High
This year Holy Cross has added a number of fun and interactive electives to our schedule. This week in electives the following took place:
- In Robotics and Engineering, students worked on building circuit boards and connecting them to machines. Students followed specific instructions to ensure their circuit boards were working properly.
- In the Agriculture elective, Ms. Lloyd demonstrated how to complete a medical check on a LIVE chicken. “Pookie”, named by the students, was shown to the class and students had the opportunity to clip her wings as part of their examinations.
- Arts and Crafts with Ms. Luna prepared Mexican Independence Day flags to place outside her classroom to honor the holiday.
We are excited for our students to experience these electives and apply them to real life! Follow us on Instagram to see what else is happening in HC Electives.
Successful Fall Festival at St. Helen's
Saint Helen’s School celebrated their Fall Festival on September 22nd and it was a blessed day that joined the church and school communities! The Knights cooked tacos, the kids enjoyed games and the bounce house, the SHS Cheer squad made their debut, and a great time was had by all!
Parent Teacher conferences were held this past week and though the weather is not fully cooperating, we are well into Fall activities! We will be blessing the pets this week and the Fall sports season is in full swing! We have added Cross Country back and had over a dozen kids come out!
Data-Based Curriculum Decisions at SAS
SAS teachers are working on looking at their STAR results specifically in math. They want to make sure they are closing any gaps that their students may have. They have met with partner teachers to talk about students in their grade to come up with a plan of intervention if needed as well as advancement for those students that qualify.
The next meeting they meet in grades levels to talk about what gaps the teachers are seeing from their new students. The goal is the teacher in the grade below will focus on those skills to close the gaps for the next school year. This week teachers have Nearpod training. Nearpod will take those STAR test results and differentiate work for the students that will focus on the skills they need more practice in. SAS is hoping this extensive look at their students scores as well as collaboration will improve their math curriculum.
