The purpose of the Office of Maine Catholic Schools is to assist the diocesan schools to carry out the mission of Catholic education: to proclaim the message, to build community, to provide service and to celebrate worship. As instruments of evangelization, Maine Catholic schools form students who, as faith-filled Christians, are responsible stewards committed to the service of others. These same students are challenged to be lifelong learners capable of both critical and creative thinking.

Responsibilities

Leadership

To foster an empowering and enabling leadership style.
To insure that Catholic schools in Maine are faithful to the teaching mission of the Church.
To coordinate efforts to develop a vision and direction for Maine Catholic schools for the 21st Century.
To nurture the dual purpose of providing an effective religious education and a quality academic education.
To provide opportunities for the professional and spiritual growth of Maine Catholic educators.

Administration

To coordinate the Office of Maine Catholic Schools.
To monitor the ongoing operations of the schools by means of school visitations.
To maintain and foster communication with school communities; clergy, administrators, faculties, boards, parents and students.
To supervise and evaluate school administrators.
To serve as educational liaison within the diocese, the state and national arenas.
To assist pastors in the process of selecting and hiring administrators.
To provide programs of orientation and professional development for principals, teachers and school board members.
To monitor the professional certification of Maine Catholic school personnel: administrators/teachers/educational technicians.
To establish professional requirements for diocesan professional educators.
To collaborate with NCEA, USCC, CACE and NECACE on matters with affect Maine Catholic schools.
To keep abreast of educational research and relevant national and state legislation and to serve in an advocacy capacity concerning educational issues and to coordinate diocesan efforts on their behalf.
To serve as Executive Secretary to the Diocesan School Board and to monitor the implementation of diocesan policies.
Planning
To gather and analyze data and statistical reports pertaining to education, particularly Catholic education.
To analyze trends and propose alternatives for the future.
To encourage and assist with strategic planning at the diocesan, regional and local school levels.
To assist with the preparation and review of local school budgets
To actively encourage and enable schools to collaborate on planning for the future of Catholic education in Maine.
To encourage the growth of programs of development and marketing at the local/regional level.

Superintendent's Office

Catholic education is total education - free to impart knowledge not only of the ways of the world but of the ways of God. Thus, Maine's parochial school system has grown from a few missionaries spelling out the Catechism to a handful of Native Americans in a remote forest clearing to the scores of schools, the hundreds of teachers, the thousands of pupils who constitute the system today. Nor is the growth at an end. From the earliest foundation of the diocese, Maine bishops and priests, the religious and laity have worked and sacrificed, as they will through many a tomorrow, to bring the priceless benefits of a full Christian education to every Catholic child.

Directory of Staff

Name & Position	Extension
Sr. Rosemary T. Donohue, SND Superintendent	207-773-6471, Ext. 7801
Kathleen McLaughlin Assistant	Ext. 7801

The mission of the Catholic Schools in Maine is to strengthen the Catholic Church and to create an environment in which the faith is preserved, nourished, shaped and communicated to foster values that give meaningful direction to the Christian family and society. This is accomplished through dedication to the growth, development and formation of the student by proclaiming the message, creating community, providing service and celebrating worship so that our students will become faith-filled Christians, creative and critical thinkers, life-long learners and confident contributors.

Vision for Catholic Schools

Catholic Identity

Religious instruction and formation will be rooted in the Scriptures and teachings of the Catholic Church and the liturgical life of the parish.
A distinctive Catholic environment of Gospel-inspired values will be integrated into all areas of curriculum and school life.

Educational Program

Catholic schools will strive to be centers of educational excellence.
Curriculums, programs and methodologies will be evaluated on a regular basis and updated to produce students who are prepared for employment, self-actualization, productive lives in society and for future education.
State-of-the-art educational resources and up-to-date technology will be provided to support and integrate learning and instruction.
In addition to a strong core curriculum, Catholic schools will offer extracurriculars such as fine arts, music, athletics and clubs.
Where there is a need, Catholic schools will provide preschool, before and after school care, parenting classes for school parents, etc.
Catholic schools will continue to encourage religious vocations and involvement of their students and graduates in parish life.

Faculty and Staff

School faculty and staff will share the vision of Catholic Christian education, helping young people grow and mature in their faith.
School faculty and staff will be State certified, competent and committed to academic excellence.
Individual faculty members will be regularly evaluated based upon their spiritual involvement and professional growth.
School faculty and staff will be compensated justly (salary and benefits), consistent with the Catholic Church's teachings on social justice.

Enrollment

An increasing number of parents will choose Catholic schools because they embrace Catholic values and want a Christ-centered educational program.
Catholic schools will be actively marketed to increase enrollment.
The quality and value of Catholic schools will be communicated to the public so that the public perception of Catholic schools in consistent with their results.
Catholic schools will strive to reflect the economic and racial diversity of their surrounding community.
Catholic schools will reach out to the non-Catholic community and will enroll non-Catholic children when space is available.
Catholic school parents will be a major marketing force for Catholic schools.

Leadership

The bishops will provide leadership which continues to focus on the value and role of Catholic schools in achieving the mission of the Church in the Diocese of Portland.
The clergy will provide leadership to achieve the level of excellence outlined in the Vision for Catholic Schools.
Catholic school administrators will be qualified leaders, who have a vision for excellence in Catholic schools.
Catholic schools will have active and supportive school boards and parent and alumni associations.

Resources

Alumni support and local development income will grow substantially to match the budgetary needs of schools.
Local and regional parish subsidy and diocesan support will be maintained at an appropriate level to achieve the Vision for Catholic Schools.
Tuition levels will be sufficient to fund a quality Catholic school program.
Tuition assistance will be aggressively developed and available to help families who cannot afford to pay full tuition at Catholic schools.
Volunteers will provide strong support for Catholic schools.

Parish/School Relations

All parishes will value, support and advocate Catholic school education as an integral part of the Church's ministry.
Catholic school parents and faculties will be actively involved in service to their parishes and to the community at large.
Catholic schools will collaborate with one another, with parish religious education programs and with other agencies.

Diocese/School Relations

The Catholic Church of Maine will continue to actively support the ministry of Catholic schools.

Facilities

Facilities will be maintained in good physical condition, to demonstrate a commitment to quality schools and stewardship of resources.
Catholic schools will be opened or expanded in areas where Catholic schools are not available and there is a large and growing Catholic population that can sustain a school.

Resources