Three Salary Ideas Worth Exploring

The “salary chart” based on years of experience virtually guarantees we underpay our best teachers and overpay others. We can’t afford to do either.

So here are three ideas worth exploring:

—Broad salary bands—Create “benchmarks” based on years of experience, but leave a lot of flexibility on either side of that benchmark. So for example, the benchmark for a starting teacher might be 50k, plus or minus 5k, whereas the five year benchmark might be 55k, +/- 5k, the ten year mark 60, +/- 5k, up to the 20 year mark of 70k.

The scale depends on the market and the school’s resources. But I believe we should make it as wide as possible, starting with the lowest salary necessary to secure a young teacher and the highest possible on the back end. When young people join us, they can afford the low wages. But after marriage and kids, our salaries don’t keep pace with their exploding expenses. We lose a lot of talented teachers in their late 20’s, right when they’re hitting their stride!

The wider our scale, the faster we can accelerate salaries. It’s a mistake to raise salaries by focusing on the entry salary, pushing everything up from there. Rather, we should focus on widening step increases.

—Teachers as “Partners”—In law firms, new lawyers are “associates” who receive annual salaries. But after 8 years or so (it varies by firm), if chosen, they can become “partners” (owners, really) who share in the company profits. At year end, the firm distributes its revenue over expense to the partners depending on their “share.” Junior partners own a tinier portion of the firm than senior partners. If they are not chosen to become partners within a certain window, they leave.

How might this work in our schools? Full disclaimer: I’ve never done this. But what if our Council designated a certain number—let’s say, 30K– that if our school had a good year, with revenues exceeding expense by 30k or more, we would “revenue share” that 30k with our “partner” teachers, in addition to their salaries? We would have to set up some rigorous requirements for becoming “partners,” just as law firms do. But it would be a way to incentivize and reward long time teachers.

—More intermediate leadership positions-We typically only have two “levels” of leadership: assistant principals and principals. We may have talented teachers whom we’d like to pay more, but don’t have “positions” that justify the bumps they need for us to do so.

For large schools with multiple classrooms per grade, I like the idea of “lead teachers” for each grade, with extra curricular responsibilities.

I’ve known many small schools, led by beleaguered principals in need of admin help, but without the means to hire an AP. I’ve recommended they segment as K-2, 3-5, 6-8 “units” and then appoint a teacher as “unit leader” for each. They can then give these teachers a substantial bump in salaries for their additional responsibilities.

My Pre-Prom Letter to Parents

How do we communicate what we know as principal to parents about what teens are doing during their watch without intruding upon their rightful sovereignty, or coming off as paternalistic or preachy? It isn’t easy. What I’ve done is share stories of how other parents in my career have handled similar situations, using both good and bad examples. Here’s a letter I’ve sent to parents about after-Prom parties as an example.

Dear senior parents,

The school prom is a just three Saturdays away—on April 13. The official prom hours are between 7-11 p.m. It’s likely that many students will leave prior to 11, but even if they stay, the million dollar question will be: What will they do next? 

I do not presume to tell you how to handle your children that evening—in my view, that’s a parent’s decision. But part of my job as principal is to be a repository of information,  sharing with you what parents have done in the past. So let me me share three approaches parents have taken: 

The “default”—Kids were on their own. Some students “camped out”  all night on someone’s property, with dates sharing tents. Others rented hotel rooms. Some kids were home by a certain time as their parents instructed. 

The “good”—Three or four families organized a series of progressive “after-parties.” Recognizing their homes could not hold 100 kids at a time, they divided things up, and organized the night in two stages: with 3 “stage one” parties at their homes from 12-1:30, and then a “stage 2” big breakfast from 2–3 a.m. in the school cafeteria for everyone. The parents knew their kids should be home by 3:30. The “pact” the parents made with each other was there would be no drinking allowed at any of these venues. The parents invited everyone in the class so that no seniors were left out. 

The “bad”— Years ago in a previous school, a parent thought it would be OK to host a “small party” for 20 of their child’s “closest friends” at barn on their property, allowing them to drink if they turned in their car keys. But word got out around town, students began arriving from other schools, and soon there were 100+ kids, most of whom the parents didn’t know. Alcohol flowed freely. Propriety and confidentiality prevent me from becoming too specific about all that happened, but crimes were committed, arrests were made, things were posted on social media, parents from our school and other schools were outraged, and I was besieged with angry letters and phone calls. I spent the entire next week dealing with police, calling parents from other schools, and suspending students, with one expulsion.  It was a calamity. 

Please know we are here to support you. I am happy to offer the school cafeteria if three or four families want to host an after prom event. Give me a call to set something up. May God bless you these next few months—graduation is almost here! 

Onward and upward,

Faustin

The Crazy Life We Expect of our Student-Athletes—How High Schools Can Help Them Balance

At 6 a.m. every weekday, the lights to the nearby high school stadium turn on so that basketball players can begin their weightlifting and conditioning. Inquiring, I learned that access to the gym is too precious to waste time on conditioning—there they must run plays and hone their shooting and passing skills.  So on a typical day, a player wakes up at 5 a.m., conditions and weight-trains from 6-7:30, showers up, eats breakfast, attends school from 8:30 to 3:30, goes to practice from 4-6 p.m, comes home, showers, eats, does homework from 7:30 p.m to 9 or 10, then goes to sleep in time to be rested enough for the 5 am —9:30 p.m. gauntlet the next day. 

That’s the “new normal” for high school athletes in big time athletic programs. And on one level, it’s a beautiful, disciplined life for a kid, which keeps him out or her out of trouble. And look, I think there is tremendous value to high school athletics! Students learn to delay gratification, sacrifice for the good of the team, put themselves second, win and lose with grace, and build virtue in so doing. As my football coach in a former school once quipped: “My most important ‘trophies’ are letters from former players, thanking me for their experience, the memories they have, the brotherhood they formed with teammates, the values they learned that made them better husbands, fathers, and employees.” Summarizing, he said. “It’s a lot more important than football.” 

I agree with that!

But on another level, expecting this much from high school kids is greatly worrisome to me, for it demands such allegiance and sacrifice that kids have very little time for anything else.  

I want our student athletes to be competitive. I want our coaches to feel like they have the means to build programs that can win state championships. But I also want our schools to help our kids live balanced lives, where they can branch out into other areas, such as music, or student government, or service clubs, or participate in religious initiatives. I want them to have room in their schedules to take classes that are demanding if they are capable, without ramping down because of their athletic commitments.  I believe students flourish when they are encouraged to become “Renaissance” young men and women, active in many things, the more different, the better.

But am I just adding to their stress by asking them to juggle even more? Possibly! But here’s how I tried to help things stay balanced when I was a high school principal:

1. First, an 8-period schedule was essential. This gave athletes a chance to take weight-lifting and conditioning during the school day as part of their normal schedule. They met in multiple periods. Our coaches would have preferred having them all at once in an “Athletic P.E.,”  but the schedule wouldn’t allow it. However, they realized they could be more efficient rotating through weights —less standing around—with smaller classes.
2. Because of this extra period, I would not allow pre-school practices. Sleep matters, especially over time!
3. I would not allow Sunday practices for any reason. We “Kept holy the Sabbath” which allowed everyone, including our families, a chance to recharge.
4. All students were required to take two years of the Arts. Most of our athletes were in choir—some opted for a third and fourth year because they enjoyed it. Some even took band (see pic). This requirement helped bring some healthy variety to their lives.
5. We built “club time” into our weekly schedule, 25 minutes every Thursday, so that participation in other clubs was possible for our athletes and others with after school commitments.
6. Tutorials for classes were everyday after school, Monday through Thursday, 3:15-3:45. The teachers went from 7:30-4 p.m.  No practices could begin until 4 p.m. so that student-athletes could attend them. No tutorials on Fridays. 
7. The school day was a bit longer to fit everything in: 7:45 to 3:10 M—Th and  7:45-2:45 on Fridays.  Everyone, including teachers,  could leave 30 minutes earlier on Friday.  It felt like a “bonus” each week!
8. For students taking three or more A.P. classes in their senior year,  I assigned them one period a day, no more than two students at a time, to another teacher, where they could work quietly in the back of the class, while the teacher taught other students. This “study period” incentivized A.P. enrollments, gave our kids extra  time for homework, and didn’t cost us another teaching unit to host a study hall. (It also helped me create a working master schedule, as these periods could land anywhere on a student’s schedule, which helped since seniors taking A.P, classes had so many singletons in their schedule.)

These practices helped our student-athletes live less crazy lives. I’m including our bell schedule to show how it all fit together. Was it perfect? No! But it helped. 

Must the Head of a Catholic School Be a Practicing Catholic?

“Perhaps not.”

So suggests Bob Regan, then a senior search consultant for Carney-Sandoe, who wrote on the subject a few years back (“The 22% Factor: Hard Choices for Catholic Schools”).

 

Regan’s argument was both practical and philosophical. Practically, he pointed out that only 22% of the country considered themselves “practicing Catholics.“ Precisely at a time when so many Catholic schools needed entrepreneurial, innovative leadership, did it make sense to eliminate 78% of the talent pool? Could a faith-filled, serious minded ecumenical candidate do the job?

 

Philosophically, Regan raised the intriguing metaphor of “the ship of Theseus.” Theseus was the mythical king and founder of Athens, who rescued the children of Athens from  King Minos after slaying the minotaur, and escaped onto a ship going to Delos. Each year, the Athenians commemorated this victory by taking that ship on a pilgrimage to Delos to honor Apollo.  But as the ship aged and the wood rotted, as it harbored in the Athenian port over the ages,  planks had to be replaced, one at a time, to keep the vessel seaworthy. Ancient philosophers asked: After centuries of maintenance, if each individual part of the ship had been replaced, was it still the ship of Theseus?

 

Regan asked, what are the “planks” of our schools that make us “Catholic?” Was it the sisters, who are no longer with us? Was it lay Catholic ministers? But now we have many non-Catholic teachers in our schools. Is it the students we serve? But now we have a broad ecumenical outreach; there Catholic schools today that are less than 50% Catholic.  Despite these tectonic changes, we are still “Catholic schools.” Perhaps, Regan suggested, the faith of the head of school is another “plank” that could be replaced without changing the essence of our institutions. 

 

Though he wrote this article in 2016, let’s give Regan his due: His arguments are even more poignant today! Few people would better understand the landscape of independent and Catholic school leadership than him, as he was head of the “Catholic practice” for Carney-Sandoe for many years.   I met him when my school hired him to search for my successor at Pope John Paul II in Nashville. I found him to be a thoughtful, committed advocate for our schools. 

 

And indeed, good leaders for our schools are hard to find! Perhaps it is the post-Covid effect, but I cannot remember a time when there were so many open school leader positions as there have been these last few years.  It doesn’t help that Catholic schools pay dramatically less for its leaders than some of our private school counterparts. According to the National Association of Independent Schools, the median salary of school “heads” in their schools was $288,000 in 2022-23! Some make more than $700,000 in the Dallas area!

 

I also find Regan’s philosophical argument intriguing. There’s no question that shifting the leadership in our schools from the nuns to the laity has jolted us in fundamental ways—but do we claim that we are no longer “Catholic” as a consequence? I suppose some might get snarky and  shout “Yes!” but I don’t believe that’s what most people believe. We work hard to carry on the heroic work the sisters began.  

 

In the end, however, I disagree with Regan!   

 

I think it is wrong to understand the Catholicity of the school as a "component part” of the operation that can be outsourced by the leader to another person, such as a "Director of Mission Effectiveness," or made the responsibility of the principal if the school uses the president-principal model. Building a joyful, authentic Catholic culture is the very essence of creating a Catholic school, the whole “kit and caboodle” that makes us distinctive from other schools. To be the architect in building such a culture requires someone who understands the Catholic faith--its idiosyncrasies, rituals, feast days, sacramental practices, songs, and common prayers--from the “inside-out” --that is to say, someone who has lived it and who has been formed by it. 

 

There are hundreds of decisions a school leader makes which tell the tale: how that person evaluates a prospective teacher or coach, what that person talks about in school assemblies, what is prioritized in professional development, how that person leads his or her school through a tragedy, what that person chooses to celebrate as a school, what he or she prioritizes in spending, whether the leader builds a partnership with priests or bishops, how actively the school leader supports the efforts of the parish or the diocese. All of these “tributary” decisions flow into a larger “river” that becomes the culture of the school and the air that students breathe. 

 

Tasking a person to lead our schools without this lived experience would be like hiring a GM of a baseball team who had corporate leadership experience but didn’t know anything about baseball. He may have executive skills, but ultimately, he wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to evaluate talent, or fathom what ignites the passions of its fans, or understand baseball’s reverence for its history. 

Could he task his manager with all of those “baseball specific” things? No, the manager is too preoccupied with handling players and strategizing for games—in other words, the day to day.

 

If Catholic schools were just about what occurs in the classroom like any other school, then perhaps an ecumenical leader might have the technical skills to lead it well.  But Catholic education is fundamentally about formation as the end goal. The classroom teaching and what occurs in the daily life of the school is a means to this end. 

Let me add this comment, too, at least for diocesan schools:  We don’t lead our schools apart from the bishop or pastors! We are institutions of the Church, not Boards of Trustees. We must communicate well with the Church and try to speak in one voice. It strikes me that trying to do this as a non-Catholic would be analogous to having a native speaker and non native person trying to communicate, with the non native person having only a rudimentary vocabulary and little comprehension for the nuances of the dialect. 

It would be quite hard for an ecclesial leader to hand over the “keys” to such an important “vehicle” for raising kids in the faith to someone who isn’t of that same faith! Frankly, I don’t know of any pastor or bishop who would do so. I don’t think it’s a good idea for independent Catholic schools, either, but whatever theoretical argument one may make for them, it’s a non-negotiable from the diocesan side. 

 

And what of the ship of Theseus? My response to the conundrum is this:  It ceases to be the ship of Theseus when it is no longer commanded by Theseus.  Without its leader, it becomes a relic, a museum piece, a part of Athenian history. 

 

Still, we would do well to pay heed to what Regan has told us. There is burning need for good Catholic leaders. Dioceses would do well to think through innovative means to improve the pipeline, perhaps by incentivizing assistant principals with better pay and on-the-job certification, requiring only a minimum of classwork.  Moving toward the president-principal governance model, even for elementary schools, is also a great way to onboard new principals, if the president has principal experience. 

 

Whatever works!  But we cannot let supply and demand issues change the fundamental nature of our schools. If we’re willing to do that, we may as well close up shop now. 

Improving School Enrollments

(This was the final portion of my "No Cost, High Impact School Makeover" workshop that I hosted at the national NCEA Conference in April of 2023.)

What is the first priority in a good admissions program?

1. Masking sure all admissions brochures and flyers look professional. Hiring a graphics designer to give them a polished look.
2. Getting prospective families on campus as often as possible.
3. Personalizing all the interactions with prospective families. Emphasizing relationships over efficiency. 
4. Lowering the attrition rates of current students by being responsive to their needs and their families’ concerns.

I asked this question in preparation for my workshop and about a third responded. I personally believe all of these are good practices. 18/27 said personalizing was most important. 6/27 said getting families on campus. 3/27 said lowering the attrition rates. So there was divided opinion in the room! 

Even so, I believe lowering attrition rates (or the flip: improving retention rates) is the first priority!  And often, that’s the one we forget about, probably because it doesn’t fit neatly into one person’s job description. Indeed, it must be the emphasis of every person in the school—principal, teachers and all staff members. The admissions office can keep track of who leaves, but it has very little influence upon those who do. 

Why should improving retention be the #1 priority? 

When families choose our schools, they re-orient their life to that school. A student’s friendships are formed there. Parents begin to associate with other parents, developing friendships of their own. We are familiar to them, especially compared to the unknown alternative. It ought to be far easier to retain a family than to persuade a new one to join us! So to begin with, it’s good tactics! But it’s much more important than that, as I will explain in this article.

But how do we retain families? By going above and beyond. 

When my daughter got married, she thought it would be a great idea if the entire wedding party—groomsmen, bridesmaids and immediate family members—all decided to stay in the same hotel for the few days leading up to the wedding. She picked a very nice hotel in downtown Mobile, called the “Battle House Hotel,” with an antebellum theme: furniture, a ballroom, and the like, playing into Mobile’s pre-Civil war heritage. The first morning I was there, I went to the hotel lobby, looking for a newspaper. “Is there a copy of the New York Times I can purchase in the hotel?,” I asked the clerk. “No,” he said apologetically, “but there’s a  news stand just around the corner. ” “Thanks,” I said, and happily went there to purchase one. But the next morning, folded neatly against my hotel room door, was the new day’s copy of the New York Times. Ever since, when someone asks me about the Battle House, I say instantly, “Oh, that’s a REALLY good hotel” without much thought. Why? Because some clerk had gone “above and beyond” to make me happy over a decade ago. 

We need to start thinking this way in our schools. I have a few ideas how:

1. As principals, we’re often required to meet with parents about something they’re unhappy about. Parents come into our meetings worried that we’ll regard them as “Karens,” but they also know that it’s our job to meet them. But what they do NOT expect is what I call the “Two Week Follow-up.” When I have a meeting, I mark my calendar two weeks from the meeting to call the parents back and ask if the “situation is getting any better.” Or more often, I just ask the kid. Rest assured, that one minute interaction with the child gets back to the parents! And it does three things:  First, it assures the parent I have taken them seriously and I  don’t regard them poorly. Second, the parent and child know I care for them. Third, it helps me as the school’s leader—follow up is an important leadership trait—and the looping back improves accountability for whatever arrangements were made.
2. Offer to meet face to face when you get the ugly email. Don’t argue over email! It just gets worse. Instead, ask parents to meet you. It’s disarming, and often, the parents have calmed down a bit and can have a rational discussion. My go to line is “Let’s see if we can meet to resolve this issue.“ Even if we can’t fully agree, they appreciate that we’ve taken them seriously and are willing to invest our personal time to resolve the matter. My wife once wrote the mayor to complain about the widening of a road near our home. To her astonishment, he called her on the phone and explained why he disagreed with her and thought the widening was good for the neighborhood. She voted for him in every subsequent election. 
3. Do the unexpected. A mother called an 8th grade teacher whom the girls greatly admired, expressing worry about her daughter’s social relationships with the other girls. The teacher said, “I’ve noticed that Susie seems a bit down lately. I will ask her to sit with me at lunch today and ask her to tell me what’s going on.” The mother, in telling me about this teacher’s kind response, was nearly in tears. I guarantee you this family will not be transferring their younger children anywhere else!

And that raises an important point about “above and beyond.” When TEACHERS develop this mindset, special things happen! When we started St. Michael in Fairhope in 2016, all 12 of the first teachers were fully bought into this notion, and we increased enrollment by almost 100 students each of the next two years! 

If teachers balk on going the extra mile, because "that’s not in his or her contract," challenge that attitude! And if they don’t respond to the challenge, find a way to let them go. We can do better.

Do we remember the three most important things about real estate? Location, location and location, right? Well the three most important things about retention are similar: Relationships, relationships, relationships. 

Another important way to improve retention rates is to focus on the student to student relationships. A class is a lot like a spinning top. Those students on the outer edges—the kids who are not the “ insiders”— feel the centrifugal forces most powerfully when it spins, and as the class matriculates  year to year, they’re the ones most likely to be spun off and withdraw. That’s especially true if the “insider” students (and their parents) are inclined to be  “cliquish.” So as principal, I go right to the core students and challenge them to bring the outsiders into the center with them. They know exactly what I mean. 

Another idea: Every other year I do a “school activities audit,” asking this simple question: Is there a place for everyone here? If kids can join up with other kids and participate in something they enjoy, it pulls them into the life of the school.  A good place to begin that audit? Go out to the parking lot at dismissal and pay close attention to who leaves campus first. They’re the ones most likely to withdraw. Look at our offerings through their eyes: is there something for them? That’s why we started our bowling team at St. Michael. We realized it would appeal to a completely different type of kid than our other athletic programs. We were right!  They had so much fun together, even though most of them weren’t very good bowlers, but who cares? 

Another: Consider starting a peer ministry program. About 4 years ago, we assembled a group of kids whose sole mission was to look out for their peers—particularly freshmen and transfers. In the first few weeks of school especially, they were trained to watch out for students eating alone at lunch, for example, and if they saw someone, they’d go sit next to him or her and begin a conversation. They’d invite him or her to eat with them the next day, to come to the ball games with them, and to sit with them at school events. It was absolutely beautiful to watch them in action. Eventually, slowly, even the most timid of the new students would get over the “hump” and begin feeling like they belonged. 

Finally, consider imposing a substantial penalty for early withdrawals. Put it in the enrollment contract. Many schools say “100% of tuition due,” but I never felt good about demanding that, especially for early year withdrawals. So we settled on the phrase “$2,000 penalty for early withdrawal or the remainder of the tuition, whichever is less.” The truth is, it isn’t really about the school collecting lost revenue! It’s about creating a disincentive for parents to yank their kids out whenever they’re having social problems or struggling academically! Too often, the parents cripple their children with  “the grass is always greener” syndrome.Kids need to learn some grittiness by working through it!

The results of these and other retention initiatives were rather dramatic at St. Michael. The National Association of Independent Schools reports their retention rates average 88% to 90%. I consider 92-95% to be good to very good. In a 2 year period, with the changes I’ve discussed, we went from 88% retention (or 12% attrition) to 95% retention—a difference of about 22 kids a year.  (*)

And that isn’t  just a financial success.  If we have happier kids, we have happier parents. And if we have happier parents, we then have ambassadors who speak well of us to prospective families, just like I speak well of the Battle House. 

So in a real way, focusing on retention isn’t just the basis of a good admissions program. It’s the first priority for a school's marketing program as well! More  importantly, it's the basis for a school with healthier, happier kids! 

(* ) To calculate annual retention rates, pick a fixed date somewhere near the beginning of the year. For us, I pick September 15 because there’s a lot of incoming and outgoing students early on, and by mid September, most of that has settled. Then count the number of students you have on that date, minus your 8th graders or seniors who will naturally move on at the end of the year. Write down that number. Then keep a tally of any kid who leaves for any reason in those grades, up until (September 15) of next year. It doesn’t matter when or why—over Christmas, during the summer, whether they voluntarily left or were expelled. All the reasons count. Then, total those who have left, and divide that number by your total students (not counting seniors or 8th) from last September 15. That’s your retention rate. The flip of that (100% -your retention rate) is your annual attrition. Some attrition, of course, is unavoidable. Jobs require families to move. A child simply cannot handle the academic program. A divorce changes a family’s economic equation. But I try not to let changing economic situations factor in, if that’s truly the reason a family is contemplating withdrawing, by offering additional aid. 

A No-Cost, High Impact School Makeover (Part III)

(This is part III of a talk I gave at the NCEA Convention on using language to re-invent our schools.)

5) Our language should communicate our joyfulness!  Perhaps because we unconsciously associate the idea of “carrying one’s cross” with suffering and pain,  we’ve convinced ourselves that Christianity is only for the miserable. But the most authentic Christians I’ve known are people of great joy! We need to communicate that to our students and families! Our web pages should be filled with happy children and stunning HD video of our kids enjoying their classmates and teachers! 

We should also make time in our school schedules for “fun” things. In my two previous schools, we were structured with “Houses” ala the British boarding schools, and the school calendar was punctuated by mini-competitions between the Houses, culminating in the “House Games” at the end of April, where we suspended classes to have academic and athletic competitions in the afternoon.  At the end of the Games, we’d award the “House Cup” to the House with the most total points for the year. I encouraged kids to dress up in their house colors, in whatever crazy (but modest) way they wanted, to show their House Spirit. It was a gloriously fun, joyful day, with a lot of cheering and smiles! 

It’s good to celebrate every now and then! 

6) Our language needs to communicate our confidence! Our schools change lives! Do we really believe that? Then let’s communicate it! 

Is that being cocky? Not at all! Here's why:

In the story of blind Bartemaeus from the gospels, Bartemaues shouts out from a distance:  “Jesus, have pity on me!” Jesus hears him, but doesn’t go to him. Instead, he tells the apostles, “Go bring him to me.” So the apostles go to him and say, “Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you.” And they bring him to Jesus, who heals him.

We are “ministers, not messiahs,” as the Bishop Hunthausen prayer reminds us. We are not the ones who heal.  Instead, we are the ones who say to our students, “Take courage! Get up, Jesus is calling you!” Our mission is to bring students to the Lord. Our confidence in our schools to is not based on some egotistical, arrogant belief in ourselves, but in the faith we have in Christ to heal those we bring to him. 

So let us boldly proclaim: Our schools change lives! 

Too often pessimism creeps into our language.  Especially if we’re struggling for enrollment or if our financial margins are thin, we might say, “Our hands are tied.” Or “We would if we could, but we don’t have the money." Because of scarcity, we stop dreaming. When we do that, we communicate to families that we are puny, and don’t have the "power" to fulfill our mission. 

One of the mistakes we make, in this regard, is we set our tuitions too low. I know we do that out of our concern for our poorest families, and it's partly our legacy from the sisters, who worked heroically for very little pay.  But if we present ourselves as the Kmart of educational choices, people will regard us as that way! In a free market economy, people equate price with quality. People say, “I wonder why they can't  charge as much as everyone else?" Even our own parents think, unreflectively, that we should charge less (but offer the same or better programs as those who charge more!). We have to wean our families and communities of this notion! I believe we should aim our tuitions to the middle of the market, step-laddering them higher over a 3-5 year period,  and give appropriate financial aid to help our most vulnerable families. Not only will it provide us more income to pay our teachers better and do new things, it'll reposition us in the marketplace as a school of greater value. 

Can we quit thanking parents, please, for “sacrificing” to send their children to us? Literally, to “sacrifice” means to give something up and expect little in return! We don’t praise parents for “sacrificing” to purchase a new car, or to go on vacation, or to buy a new home. Why not? Because we see these things as necessary or important  Paying tuition for our schools is not charity work! It’s the best investment parents can ever make in their children's future! 

Do we know that small schools generally out-perform larger ones? The data is clear. At St. Michael, a school of just 350 students, I linked those research studies to our web site.  Also, small schools know the students in a personal way that is nearly impossible for larger schools. When we give tours to prospective families, for example, as we go down the hallways, we should be deliberate in interacting with students:  “Good hit yesterday, Johnny.” “Nice point you made in class this morning, Bill.” “I was so excited to watch you at the ballet last weekend, Susie.” Let parents understand if they send their children to our schools, we will know them personally. 

I am not an expert in the martial arts, but my understanding is that “jujitsu” teaches people to use their smaller, more nimble size as an advantage against larger, stronger opponents—showing them, for example, how to “throw” aggressors when they attack, by using their momentum against them. 

As smaller schools, we need to practice jujitsu! Let’s project our confidence--maybe even a little swagger! 

“Clothes make the man.” There is great truth in that, which is why the military insists its soldiers wear uniforms, and why it pays such careful attention to keeping those uniforms properly washed, pressed and worn correctly. The military understands that careful attention to the exterior garb begins to make a profound difference to the soldier’s interior self-understanding and attitude. 

We in Catholic schools need to “cloak” ourselves in language which reminds our teachers and families of our fundamental “why,” a language which is simple and direct, that reflects the challenge of the gospel, which welcomes families from other faiths, and that is both joyful and confident!  If we do, it’ll change us from the inside out, thus “re-presenting” ourselves to our communities and towns! 

May God give us the wisdom, eloquence and conviction to do so!