The Experience of Catholic Education
This past week we celebrated Catholic Schools Week. I have the unique honor of seeing our great Catholic schools in action from multiple perspectives. As an elementary student, I attended St. Vincent de Paul School in Osseo, Minnesota. My wife attended St. Francis of Assisi School here in Rochester. These schools helped shape us into who we are today. When we first began talking about having children, one of the many things we agreed upon was that our kids would attend a Catholic school. If I’m being honest, our initial plan was for them to attend Catholic school for grades K-8. However, as time went on, and after our oldest daughter attended a public high school, we quickly switched our plans. am proud to say that we currently have two boys that attend Lourdes High School and a daughter who attends the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Middle School. Our oldest daughter is in college. At one point we had all four of our kids in Rochester Catholic Schools (RCS) and it is one of the greatest decisions we have ever made. In the past 17 years we have been blessed to experience four of the five RCS schools for our family. Regardless of which RCS school our kids were attending, the experience was the same: a devoted community that helps them develop Christ-centered character traits while providing opportunities for them to grow spiritually, socially, emotionally, academically, creatively, and athletically.
I’m not only a parent of RCS students, I am also the principal of the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Middle School. I have been blessed to serve this community for nine years, and counting. In my time here I have had the privilege of working with hundreds (probably closer to thousands) of students and families. Every time I meet a new family and show them around the school, my message stays the same. Our school works to develop the spiritual, social, emotional, and academic growth of young people. We know that we do academics very well…we can show you that with test scores, grades, and other measures. We know that we do fine arts very well…we can show you that with awards and accolades that our students earn through competitions, concerts, artwork, and spring musicals. We know that we do athletics very well…we can show you that with trophies, awards, and state championship banners. Everything we do, we do to the best of our ability. However, the one thing that ties it all together is our commitment to Christ-centered character development. We use faith, academics, fine arts, athletics, and so much more to develop good people of character that bring hope to the world.
On behalf of the amazing staff members, students, volunteers, and families of RCS I want to say thank you to all of you for supporting our school and all five of our RCS campuses. We could not do what we do without your support.
Happy Catholic Schools Week!
Matt Langsdale
Parent and Principal of Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Middle School