SCHOOL NEWS

Early this year, we commissioned Michael Edghill, an outside consultant and an associate superintendent for mission for the Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Schools, to conduct a diagnostic assessment of St. Matthew Catholic School. This was the first step in discerning what our school is doing well and what areas we can improve.  
One of Mr. Edghill’s first recommendations was to revisit our school’s mission statement, as it guides every decision, gives us our identity, and is often the first thing families see when considering a Catholic School.
On April 3, we began the work of rewriting our mission statement. Representatives from our parish came together: teachers, parents, lay leadership Councils, Fr. Juan, and our principal, Kristin Jost. We discussed the many things that make St. Matthew Catholic School a special place for students and looked with fresh eyes at how we can improve our school.  
To help us focus, we organized our discussions around five areas of need that Mr. Edghill’s report identified as opportunities for improvement:

1. Faith Formation
2. Curriculum
3. Environment
4. Communications, Marketing & Enrollment
5. School Finance & Fund Development

Our two-hour meeting was highly interactive and energizing, and many thoughtful and creative ideas were shared.  
Our ambitious plans to improve and reenvision our school will likely take three years to implement progressively.  Our next steps are as follows:

• Create a draft mission statement, get feedback, and finalize it in the weeks ahead.
• Set up a large group meeting to further explore the five project areas mentioned above and better understand their scope, priority, and timeline.
• We are finalizing the date for this meeting; stay tuned.
• Form Project Teams to take action on the project areas.
• Monitor and celebrate progress!

If you have questions about this initiative, please contact Fr. Juan or our Principal, Kristin Jost.