I would like to thank all of the students who are here today representing the five Catholic schools that serve the city of Camden. I’d also like to recognize and thank our pastors and principals from the schools who are here today. In a special way, I’d also like to thank Father Tom Gavin and Maggie Mattern and the staff here at Holy Name for hosting us here today.
I am pleased to be here this afternoon to be a part of an announcement that signals a time of great hope for the Church, for the city of Camden, and for our families and children.
As many of you know, this diocese has been working to respond to the challenges facing our parishes and our schools. This has meant change, change that is sometimes difficult, but necessary if we are to be stronger and better equipped to meet the needs of our people today and well into the future.
Camden city has known greatness. It now struggles, profoundly. We see the height of the obstacles and the depth of the despair and may want to turn away or give up. But, we cannot give up. We will not give up on Camden.
Camden is more than a city. It is a place where people live and call home. It is a place where people struggle to raise their families. It is a place where men and women, our brothers and sisters, yearn for happiness and opportunity, for themselves and for their children.
Catholic Schools, in particular, help the Church fulfill its religious mission. They also are fundamental to the Church’s social mission in that quality schools create real opportunities for children and families so that they might live in a way worthy of their God-given dignity. For us, then, good, safe, quality schools are simply a matter of justice.
I have said many times that schools exist for their parishes, not the other way around. Schools are one means, albeit an important one, for their sponsoring parishes to carry out their larger mission. These will remain Catholic schools that are deeply connected to their parishes, their rich traditions and histories. None of this will be lost.
Yet, the Catholic schools that serve Camden city have unique challenges that cry out for new, bold approaches. That is why I am pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Palestini of Saint Joseph University and IEF, the International Education Foundation, have agreed to collaborate with a first-rate team of education and management professionals in the “Catholic School Partnership.”
The Partnership will ensure that Catholic schools, which are vital to the Church’s mission of forming young people in the faith, are able to thrive in an area of the diocese where the needs of children are especially great.
I thank Christine Healey DeVaull and Robert Healey from IEF for your deep commitment to Catholic schools, for your creativity, hard work and great generosity in bringing this Partnership about, and for the wise counsel you have offered to the diocese over these last four years. I thank also the management team, board of directors, as well as our pastors, principals, administrators and faculties for all you do every day to lift up the lives of the young people in your schools.
It is now my pleasure to introduce to you the founding executive director of the Partnership’s management team. Dr. Robert Palestini, former Dean of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Saint Joseph University came to the University in 1990. There he oversaw the tripling of the Arts and Sciences graduate enrollment, the purchase of the Learning Institute, and the development of the Interdisciplinary Doctor in Educational Leadership Program.
Under his leadership, new master’s degrees were introduced in a range of subjects, as well as online courses and new concentrations in Instructional Technology and Special Education. He also began three international graduate programs. A former science teacher, principal and school superintendent, and now professor, he is the author of 11 books on educational leadership and education law. He is past president of the AJCU continuing education deans. He also served on the Governor’s Commission on Training America’s Teachers, the Board of Directors of the World Affairs Council, The Catholic Philopatrian Society and the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy and Philadelphia Futures.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Robert Palestini.