The Telos of our Mission

What were our goals going into this school year?

  1. Increase individual student support mechanisms by adding faculty members and expanding our repertoire of creative and effective ways to inclusively support all learners in our classrooms via the Barton program, NHS tutors, targeted curricular implements, and more. 

  2. Implement the recently board adopted graduation requirements that align with mission-driven goals and increase course rigor. This includes requiring an additional credit of humanities-based electives.

  3. Finalize our revision and realization of a teacher formation process that is truly mission aligned and focused on best practices, both of which originate in the vocation of a teacher.

  4. Enhance the celebration of the sacred liturgy on campus by creating an environment conducive to active, reverent participation by the faithful. "Sacred buildings and requisites for divine worship should be truly worthy and beautiful and be signs and symbols of heavenly realities." (Cf., Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 122-124)

How well did we bring these goals to fruition?

  1. Four additional faculty members were added (two for Garden, and two for elementary), and two junior high/high school teachers were deployed as tutors for individual students. 39 students received support from our internal faculty support and 6 students received services from SAU 85. Consultations with the Fire Foundation and other catholic schools remain ongoing as we work to refine our best practices. Moving forward, the model will develop into a Family Learning Plan rather than individual student support services. This will manifest the partnership between school and home more prominently, since that is so critical to the academic and human formation of student learners. 

  2. All seniors enrolled in two of the five humanities electives. The rising junior and senior class registered for all five of the humanities electives in the 2021-2022 school year. A future consideration is whether or not we intend to mandate the Humanities Seminar course for all students and create a logic course for the junior high course of study. 

  3. The first faculty formation cycle completed in April of 2021. All faculty reported that the program proved beneficial to their vocation as a Catholic educator. Full time teachers authored two reflection essays based on the Seven Augustinian Principles from "De Catechizandis Rudibus" and three self-selected texts from the wisdom of the western intellectual tradition. Faculty returning for the 2021-2022 school year will now enter a new formation cycle based on experiences from the 2020-2021 academic year. Newly hired faculty will be expected to write a reflection essay on the Seven Augustinian Principles and To Lead a Child: On Reclaiming a Human Pedagogy, Elisabeth Sullivan as part of their orientation. 

  4. Fr. Michael Sartori served as our school chaplain. Students attended the sacred liturgy in cohorts before reverting back to our whole school communion in April. Altar candles and a new altar cross were purchased to enhance our liturgical environment; new cassocks were also acquired to increase altar server participation. Sacred music was sung without instrumental accompaniment, and this afforded a more reverent and prayerfully rich opportunity for students and staff to enter into the paschal mystery. Moving forwards, the Mass will continue to be celebrated in chant so as to more fully align with the magisterial directives regarding the sacred liturgy. 

What goals do we have for next year?

  1. Clarify and codify the humanities course of study and reading canon for junior high and high school 

  2. Review and identify options for the math curriculum for grades 1-8 to ensure all eighth graders demonstrate proficiency in algebra

  3. Accentuate beauty as a pathway to discover our transcendent purpose. John Paul II echoed the famous sentiment of Dostoyevsky: “beauty will save the world”. “Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savour life and to dream of the future. That is why the beauty of created things can never fully satisfy. It stirs that hidden nostalgia for God” (Letter to Artists, Pope John Paul II 1999).

  4. Fully integrate the daily disposition of St. John Bosco into every facet of our mission: the classroom, arts, athletics, dress code, recess, guilds, and households. Invoke decorum as a tool to support this effort; decorum is propriety of speech, behavior, or dress; formal politeness; from Latin,"that which is seemly."

How will we work to accomplish these goals?

  1. Host a Master Course in Seminar Leadership in partnership with Cana Academy 

  2. Successfully complete the Catholic identity review as directed by the Catholic Schools’ Office of the diocese of Manchester. The initial self-study was submitted in December of 2020, and a site visit will take place in the fall of 2021. 

  3. Successfully renew our NAPCIS accreditation by completing the self-study and site visit. Invite participation from all stakeholders. 

  4. Conduct a syllabi audit of junior high and high school humanities courses, focusing specifically on literature and history. Finalize syllabi to include what is taught, how it is taught, and how it is assessed, achieving stronger mission alignment in the humanities in conformity with our catholic curriculum standards. 

  5. Conduct a curriculum review in math for grades 1-8, soliciting feedback from teachers and consulting other schools that share the same mission. Teachers and the Academic Dean will collaboratively recommend which curriculum will best accomplish our institutional goals in conformity with our catholic curriculum standards. 

  6. The areas of our mission where beauty is prominently focused include the sacred liturgy, sacred music, art, and theatre. Each of these educational and formative experiences will be reviewed and improved to intentionally direct students to the beauty of the divine. The Knights Theatre program will return, and the art curriculum will be upgraded under the direction of newly hired personnel.