Sister’s Mission To Save Chicago Catholic Schools

chicago catholic schools

Instead of a firm handshake, McCaughey, superintendent of Chicago Catholic Schools, greets principals with a big bear hug. Visiting schools across the archdiocese, she bursts into classrooms, praising teachers with high-fives and joking with students about Fat Tuesday. Even in meetings, her colleagues and critics alike are disarmed and charmed by her loud laugh, feisty attitude and courage to speak her mind on how to save Chicago’s struggling Catholic schools.

Only eight months on the job as head of the nation’s largest Catholic school system, McCaughey, 59, is already taking steps to reinvent Chicago’s Catholic schools. She will announce on Monday the establishment of a newly formed archdiocesan school board responsible for implementing a new vision for the schools. In coming months, she expects to reopen two closed Catholic schools as learning evangelization centers, a different school model from preschool to 2nd grade. She also plans to explore charter-school conversions, corporate tax credits, and public and private partnerships to fund cash-strapped schools.

Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools Have Faith in Education

PCI was retained by the Archdiocese of Chicago to create marketing communications campaigns to promote its school system, the largest non-public school system in the nation. The first, “Choose Catholic Schools,” became the model for the National Catholic Education Association’s annual Catholic Schools Week. The second, “Catholic Schools Have Faith in Education,” advanced the image, vitality and relevance of the system, positioning the schools as faith-based, academically excellent, technologically sophisticated, and safe and secure.

The “Have Faith in Education” campaign was developed following a series of focus groups that uncovered current attitudes toward Catholic schools held by members of the African-American, Hispanic and general market communities. The program blended participation in a series of audience-specific special events with brochures, billboards in selected high-traffic areas and spot radio advertising.

PCI’s strategy was to leverage the positive story of Catholic schools with an aggressive media relations campaign, which, in less than four years, secured more than 1,500 print and broadcast placements in Chicago metropolitan area media as well as national and regional media. The story of the accomplishments of Catholic schools, their students, teachers, alumni and volunteers were seen or heard by more than 198 million readers/viewers.

Even so, McCaughey sees hope. Her goal is that every Catholic parent who wants a Catholic education for their children should be able to send them to a Catholic school. Her challenge is persuading others to support her vision.

“We have to say as a Catholic community, this is just like Catholic Charities. This is our mission,” she said. “The church needs to look at this and say, ‘These are our children.’ ”

Source : Chicago Catholic Schools & Chicago’s Catholic Schools

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