Chapter 16: Summary and Conclusion: The Innovative Road Ahead

Over four centuries ago, since the Franciscans opened a school in St. Augustine, Florida, the Catholic Church has embraced the ministry of education in this part of the world. From simple beginnings in the British colonies and the fledgling U.S. Republic, the teaching ministry expanded greatly to meet religious and educational needs of the mushrooming Catholic population through the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century.

Every era has had its challenges; however, the twenty-first century has been particularly difficult for Catholic schools in the United States primarily because of demographic, financial, and leadership challenges. In addition, emerging models of schools (e.g., charter, magnet) whereby parents increasingly have choices for the kind of education they want for their children, have not included an equal opportunity for parents to choose Catholic schools. This concluding chapter summarizes these social and financial changes and their implications for Catholic school decision making. It also presents seven strategies that have the possibility of leading Catholic schools in positive, new directions. A number of these strategies are more fully explained in the preceding chapters of this book, as indicated below.