CHICAGO (January 22, 2004) – A group of 16 Catholic elementary and secondary schools, located principally on the northwest side of Chicago, and three universities are collaborating on an initiative to create a new model of education.

The model is scheduled to pilot later this spring and will focus on providing students with a continuous and progressive Catholic education experience from pre-kindergarten through college.

The group, Catholic Area Network (CAN), is sharing its resources to enhance and enrich Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

“We envision building on the strengths of each individual school while sustaining a partnership among all CAN schools to enhance student achievement and expand our commitment to Catholic education,” said Carol Kolberg, principal of St. Bartholomew School, 4941 W. Patterson Ave., Chicago. “This will be a new model of education, something different for the 21st century that will not only benefit our students but also the families and community members within our area.”

Among the group’s main areas of focus are:
? Creating partnership opportunities among elementary and secondary schools and university faculties.
? Promoting the faith development of students, parents and faculty through such opportunities as joint retreats or shared speakers to explore living a faith-filled life in the contemporary world.
? Expanding parental awareness of and commitment to the value of Catholic education.
? Supporting teacher development in content knowledge and best practices.
? Articulating a continuous curriculum pre-kindergarten through college.
? Developing new models of interaction between schools and communities.

“The goal of this new collaborative curriculum is to open the dialogue between the educational institutions, accelerate the education of students, provide ample enrichment and eventually enable students to earn college credit while still in high school,” said Kolberg.

“The 21st century challenges the leaders of strong, Catholic, educational centers to create the future together. The entire northwest corridor of the city would be alive with educational opportunities for all ages,” said Nicholas Wolsonovich, Ph.D, superintendent of schools. “The Catholic Area Network is a new sign that Catholic school leaders are up to this challenge.”

The group’s first major initiative is to develop a continuous math curriculum for the schools involved in the initiative. Math teachers within the network will meet with university personnel to develop the curriculum that includes a progression of concepts and skills beginning from elementary school that would be connected to the high school curriculum and beyond. Once created, teacher development will be provided to ensure its implementation. The process of identifying these concepts, skills and best practices will begin this spring with a goal to introduce them into the curriculum during the 2004-05 academic year.

There are plans to replicate this process with both science and technology curricula, as well.

Kolberg stressed that this design would not eliminate a school’s individual identity, but enable all the schools to have a strong global identity as strong, vital Catholic schools.

“A new educational model building from the strength of each school would be created, with each level serving as a feeder for the next,” said Kolberg.

The 19 schools participating in the CAN initiative include 10 Catholic elementary schools, offering services pre-school through eighth grade; six Catholic secondary schools – one co-ed, two all-boys and three all-girls; and three Catholic universities. They are:

Elementary Schools:
St. Bartholomew School, 4941 W. Patterson Ave., Chicago
St. Edward School, 4343 W. Sunnyside Ave., Chicago
St. Ferdinand School, 3131 N. Mason Ave., Chicago
St. Genevieve School, 4854 W. Montana St., Chicago
St. Ladislaus School, 3330 N. Lockwood Ave., Chicago
Our Lady of Victory School, 4434 N. Laramie Ave., Chicago
St. Pascal School, 6143 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago
St. Robert Bellarmine School, 6036 W. Eastwood Ave., Chicago
St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr School, 2318 N. Lorel Ave., Chicago
St. Viator School, 4140 W. Addison St., Chicago

Secondary Schools:
Gordon Tech High School, 3633 N. California Ave., Chicago
Holy Cross High School, 3000 N. 80th Ave., River Grove
Mother Theodore Guerin High School, 8001 W. Belmont Ave., River Grove
Notre Dame for Girls, 3000 N. Mango Ave., Chicago
St. Patrick High School, 5900 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
Resurrection High School, 7500 W. Talcott Ave., Chicago

Universities:
De Paul University, School of Education, 2320 N. Kenmore, Chicago
Dominican University, School of Education, 7900 W. Division St., River Forest
Loyola University, School of Education, 820 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago

Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools
The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago play a critical role in the life of the community by providing academic excellence and faith formation for approximately 111,000 students of many races, faiths and backgrounds in the 283 elementary and secondary schools in Cook and Lake counties. There are more than 6,400 teachers in the Catholic school system who instill values, teach discipline and achieve strong, consistent academic results in the Archdiocese of Chicago's 242 elementary and 41 secondary schools. Visit the Archdiocese of Chicago Web site at www.archchicago.org/schools