CHARLOTTE — Two more Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte will begin using the “Disciple of Christ, Education in Virtue” program this fall.
St. Ann School in Charlotte and St. Pius X School in Greensboro will launch the Christian values curriculum starting this fall, joining existing users Sacred Heart School in Salisbury and St. Michael School in Gastonia.
The “Disciple of Christ, Education in Virtue” program is structured on the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas and was developed by the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, Mich. It is designed to provide a consistent structure and systematic instruction for students to learn about the seven virtues so that they can form the habits necessary to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Crystal Koury, assistant superintendent of diocesan schools, said the two additional schools will take advantage of additional resources from the Dominican sisters to launch the program and prepare teachers who will be implementing the program.
The additional training and onboarding resources are a new component, Koury said, emphasizing the value of virtue and building it up not only in students and teachers, but also in families. The Dominican sisters recently provided training sessions for staff, teachers and administrators who will be using the new program this fall, she said.
Koury explained the effort is about “creating a common language and a common approach to everyday life. We don’t want to just learn about virtue. We want to focus on a program that reinforces how to live virtue.”
“The goal is to continue to focus on instilling virtue in our students,” she said, “because if we are instilling virtue, we are working towards our mission to equip students to be disciples of Christ and approach the world with a Catholic view.”
An eight-member Virtue Development Committee in the Catholic Schools Office vetted the program, procured resources and planned professional development opportunities to get the program off the ground. The committee represents a variety of stakeholders including parents, teachers, administrators, priests and Catholic Schools Office employees. Steering the committee is Katie Matlak, coordinator of certification and curriculum and program assistant with the Education Vicariate.
Beyond this project, the Virtue Development Committee has a wider focus, looking at ways to cultivate virtue and leadership at all of the diocese’s 19 schools.
Committee member and St. Pius X’s Assistant Principal Antonette Aguilera said the “Disciple of Christ, Education in Virtue” program stood out “because of the way in which it is designed to permeate school culture.” Rather than being another curriculum simply to add on to other programs, she said, it is “an approach to living, to learning and to teaching. We look forward to creating a shared dialogue and a community-wide understanding of living in virtue.”
Principal Kathy McKinney said St. Ann School looks forward to sharing information with parents this fall after teachers have received resources and training.
Echoing Aguilera, McKinney noted, “We liked that this is not simply a program or one more thing that we have to do, but rather a school-wide approach to common language that will help all understand virtues, think about virtues when making decision for ourselves and others, as well as guiding all of us to be consistent with our approach to day to day situations. This will provide us with a consistent framework for promoting our Catholic identity and being Christlike to others in what we say and do, as well as how we choose to live our lives.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter. www.SistersofMary.org contributed.