Back to School 2014| Grading the ‘System,’ an interview with the superintendent

On a scale from A to F, Michael Rockers measures the success of Hawaii Catholic schools’ 3-year-old strategic plan

As local Catholic school students once again hit the books, school administrators and teachers continue their work creating thriving academic environments that foster faith, integrity and scholarship in Island youth.

Much like the pupils are guided by a teacher’s lesson plan, those responsible for overseeing their education are also steered by a rubric of action.

It’s a plan called the “System for Success,” a set of goals and objectives for Hawaii’s 42 Catholic schools, now entering its third year of implementation. The plan was developed in 2011 by the Diocesan Board of Education’s School Planning Task Force, under the guidance of former superintendent Carmen Himenes.

The System for Success provides ways for local Catholic schools to excel in four main areas: “Catholic Identity,” “Academic Excellence,” “Leadership” and “Effective and Efficient Organizational Structures.” More than a dozen “objectives” provide concrete steps for Catholic schools to take to flourish in each category.

Superintendent Michael Rockers has been helping schools put the System for Success to work.

How is everyone doing? The Hawaii Catholic Herald asked Rockers July 22 to give a “report card” to measure how the schools have been faring with the System for Success goals.

Grading on an A to F scale, the superintendent gave strong marks for the completion of several objectives, but also noted weaknesses to be addressed.

Catholic identity

Ensuring that the diocese’s Catholic schools are firmly rooted in the Church’s values and teachings has been “a front-burner item in all that we do,” Rockers said by phone from Arkansas where he was vacationing.

Giving an “A” grade, the superintendent praised the schools’ efforts in building a strong Catholic identity. Activities such as teacher faith formation programs, a retreat for principals and an annual choral festival for students, he said, have helped toward this goal.

“When we interview for principals or teachers, it’s important that they be people of faith,” Rockers said. “That really is where you’re going to see the most effect on our students.”

The System for Success encourages kids and faculty to extend their faith into the community, as well. Improvement could be made, Rockers noted, in involving students from parochial schools in parish ministries, Masses and service projects.

“It’s a little bit like apples and oranges when you have children that aren’t on the (parish) facility even at the same time,” he said. “We see real good integration when the pastor and principal have good communication. The desire of a lot of parishes is there, but it’s a logistical challenge.”

The System for Success also urges parents and guardians to play active roles in students’ religious education and formation. Many students and their families “are devout Christians,” Rockers explained, but sacramental preparation and catechesis in the schools are of lesser interest to non-Catholic families and those whose priorities lie more in academics or other areas.

He gave these family faith-building efforts, and the schools’ general effectiveness as “agents of evangelization,” “B” grades.

“I think it’s simpler to employ the school as an agent of evangelization than it is to get the parents involved if their reason for choosing the school isn’t faith,” Rockers said.

Academic excellence

To provide local Catholic school students with quality academics, the System for Success emphasizes comprehensive, up-to-date training for teachers and faculty.

Rockers gave an “A” grade for the diocese’s many opportunities in “pedagogy/curriculum development services.” He praised as well the progress made in “21st Century Learning” teaching methods and technological advances.

Grants from the Hawaii Catholic Community Foundation and the Castle Foundation have been instrumental in boosting academics. The funds have enabled schools to buy the latest technological equipment and to create “professional development platforms” where teachers can “support each other and to network and collaborate,” Rockers said.

Help for schools also comes from other diocesan departments. The Augustine Education Foundation provided electronic “Smart Boards” to many schools and taught the schools how to use them. The diocesan human resources department has taken on and centralized payroll and hiring tasks to allow the schools to concentrate their energies in the classrooms.

Rockers lauded Hawaii Catholic Schools Office staff for their work in insuring that schools meet academic standards. Associate superintendent Lovey Ann DeRego has been doing well on “accreditation-related matters,” he said. Patrick J. Foeher, the office’s 21st Century Learning coordinator, has readily kept educators aware of new technologies and training programs.

“When you have people with the expertise in these areas, it really helps,” Rockers said. “It really takes a team.”

Leadership

The third goal outlined in the System for Success is to empower pastors, principals, school boards and other institutional leaders to effectively carry out their roles.

Rockers said the first step toward that goal was to create a partnership between Chaminade University of Honolulu and the diocese to provide orientation, training and mentoring on leadership skills. That objective has been met. The university now offers a biannual leadership program for Catholic school principals, educational administrators and teachers aspiring to administrative positions.

Chaminade also worked with Rockers to re-evaluate the System for Success and examine the consultative and managerial roles he as superintendent plays in its execution.

“They really did a great job of crystallizing what is most important,” he said. “I think (the System for Success) has been edited or customized a little bit so it’s even a little better document than it was when I first got here.”

The strategic plan suggests as well that Rockers and the Diocesan Board of Education establish “professional learning communities” that regularly discuss the four System for Success priorities.

The superintendent said that with the help of the Internet and specialized computer platforms, several of these communities have already been established locally — with Leeward Oahu schools, for example. Connections are also being made with national and international educator networks.

“The schools have been doing a good job of providing the time to do that,” he said.

In addition to promoting growth in administrative and professional leadership, the Hawaii Catholic Schools team has been tasked with supporting pastors in charge of parish schools. Rockers gave this objective a “B,” as his office has done its best to provide workshops on pastoral responsibilities.

The superintendent acknowledged that more orientation programs for parochial school clergy are needed.

“I’m starting to realize that they’re helped out most by kind of a situational management, where they learn or are helped in knowing what they should delegate,” Rockers said, “and what their role as the spiritual leader of the school might look like.”

Effective and efficient organizational structures

The System for Success area that Rockers graded to be most in need of improvement is in creating “effective and efficient organizational structures.”

Much improvement could be made, the superintendent said, particularly in the development of school boards and strengthening their collaboration with the Hawaii Catholic Schools office.

Finding volunteers — “real quality board members that have the time and expertise and desire to be effective” — is a problem in many diocesan school systems across the nation, Rockers said. Parents and community members are eager to help Catholic schools, but are often too busy to make such a rigorous commitment.

Rockers encouraged current school boards to maintain “clear and honest communication” with the Hawaii Catholic Schools office to promote efficient and effective decision-making.

The lowest grade the superintendent gave on the System for Success “report card” was a “D” when it came to creating supportive relationships between parishes with schools and parishes without schools within a vicariate.

Cultivating regional support for parochial schools has been an ongoing struggle for various reasons, Rockers said.

“Parents, kind of regardless of where they live, choose a school based on a lot of different factors,” he said. “Where they drive to for work, what their parish is, what their perceived quality of the school is … so there aren’t natural feeder schools or a network for that.”

“It’s not a simple matter on a lot of levels,” he added.

Rockers said the schools on Maui have demonstrated how vicariate support can greatly benefit Catholic school families. Msgr. Terrence Watanabe, pastor of St. Theresa Parish in Kihei and Maui’s vicar, has started second collections in every parish for the benefit of the Valley Isle’s Catholic schools.

“It’s logistically and in other ways simpler for Maui,” Rockers said.

The Augustine Educational Foundation has been helpful in getting diocese-wide support for Catholic schools with its yearly second collection at all parishes. While these funds go a long way to aid students “regardless of parish or even religion,” Rockers said, “a greater amount of connection” throughout the diocese “would be helpful.”

“The parish schools have to network and support and in some way minister to those parishes around them,” Rockers said. “The parish has to be sensitive to the school, too.”

“It goes both ways,” he added.

Overall assessment

According to Rockers’ assessment, Hawaii Catholic Schools’ progress so far under the System for Success has earned a “B” grade point average.

Although he acknowledged that more work needs to be done, Rockers hopes the System for Success has helped Hawaii’s Catholic schools move toward a sustainable future in educating the Islands’ next generation of model citizens and faith-filled leaders.

The System for Success, Rockers said, has “definitely” been pivotal in envisioning the needs and successes of Hawaii Catholic schools going forward.