Una cordial bienvenida a todos mis lectores bilingües. Gracias por toda su ayuda sirviendo a nuestra Iglesia. Por favor haganme saber cómo les podemos ayudar servir a nuestros estudiantes y como hacerle para que nuestras escuelas Católicas entiendan cómo mejorar para que nuestra Iglesia sea más acogedora.
This week we celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is a nice time to stop and ask, “Are we doing enough to prepare our schools for the future?” Or perhaps better, “are we doing enough NOW to open our doors to the burgeoning Hispanic population?” Already, Hispanic youth are the majority of Catholic youth. This is not simply an enrollment issue—meaning we need to change a few signs in order to attract more students. This is a critical Church issue. Are we going to change our schools to reflect and to include the majority of Catholic youth?
If a prospective family were to walk around your school with no students present, would they feel like they belong?
I took a look at my library of curated content and decided to put it all together. This is a bit of a deep dive but with a chance to relax around the corner, you might have a little more time to read!
- Start here! Watch this video by ACE which describes how Principal Joana Camacho and Sacred Heart School in Oklahoma City learned to welcome more Hispanic families. She describes their journey to becoming more inclusive and how to bridge the gap between a vibrant parish community full of Hispanic youth and an underenrolled Catholic school. Camacho gives practical suggestions which are relevant to every Catholic school and say the magic words, “I learned to work smarter, not harder.”
- Next, I encourage everyone to read the short study “Catholic Schools in an Increasingly Hispanic Church.” It is insightful and challenging. The study was shortened and modified in the Winter 2017 issue of Momentum. I wrote a short blog post summarizing the main points.
- The Latino Enrollment Institute at ACE also shared a great story of how one school in South Carolina opened their doors to more Latino students. Timothy Matovina from ND shares his thoughts on the importance of studying Latino Catholicism.
- The Archdiocese of Boston has launched a strategic program to reach out to Hispanic families in certain schools. Along the same lines, the Healey Education Foundation shared best practices for recruiting Hispanic students.
- Hosffman Ospino (Boston College) authored “10 Ways Hispanics are Redefining American Catholicism in the 21st Century” in America magazine October 30th. Ospino is one of the leaders in researching and advocating for Hispanic outreach. You can listen to my podcast conversation with him here. In this article in Crux, Ospino describes how “Growth of US Hispanic Population a Blessing for Church.”
- Hospino and Boston College have been instrumental in promoting Two-Way Immersion. US Catholic published a great article explaining the purpose and method of this system of schools. TWIN-CS publishes a great blog with school profiles and dual language resources.
- “Church growth will depend on reaching Latinos” from NCR explores the critical importance of Hispanic outreach. A 2015 article entitled “Pope Will Find US Church Struggling to Hold Onto Latinos” is just as relevant today.
- “More Latino Families Finding a Home in Catholic Schools” in February’s Catholic News Service.
- ACE has a program to help empower your school’s English Language Learners called the Hernandez Fellows
- Bishop Thomas Olmsted from Phoenix wrote “How Hispanics are Shaping the Church” in December 2016.
- Other podcast conversations which might be interesting: an interview with Luis Fraga from Notre Dame, Bill Daily from St. Mary Magadalen in San Antonio (a school which transitioned to Two-Way Immersion), and Dr. Martin Scanlan from Boston College.
Happy Sunday! This week I’m presenting articles about serving more Hispanic students in Catholic schools. As most of our schools struggle with enrollment, the growing under 18 Latino population begs for consideration.
My top 5:
- Watch this video by ACE which describes how Principal Joana Camacho and Sacred Heart School in Oklahoma City learned to welcome more Hispanic families
- Next, I encourage everyone to read the short study “Catholic Schools in an Increasingly Hispanic Church.” It is insightful and challenging.
- Hosffman Ospino (Boston College) authored “10 Ways Hispanics are Redefining American Catholicism in the 21st Century” in America magazine October 30th.
- Hospino and Boston College have been instrumental in promoting Two-Way Immersion. US Catholic published a great article explaining the purpose and method of this system of schools.
- A 2015 article entitled “Pope Will Find US Church Struggling to Hold Onto Latinos” is just as relevant today.
Have a great week!
