Defining Characteristic Seven
National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools.
Catholic school education places emphasis on the school as COMMUNITY – an educational community of persons and a genuine community of faith.
Catholic schools should do everything they can to promote genuine trust and collaboration among teachers, with parents as the primary educators of their children, and with the governing body members to foster appreciation of different gifts that build up a learning and faith community and strengthen academic excellence. The Catholic school should pay attention to the quality of personal relations between teacher and students, ensuring that the student is seen as a person whose intellectual growth is harmonized with spiritual, religious, emotional, and social growth.
“The Defining Characteristics flow directly from the Holy See’s teaching on Catholic schools, and from statements by Pope Benedict XVI and the American Bishops. The characteristics define the deep identity of Catholic Schools and serve as the platform on which the standards and benchmarks rest."