THOUGHTS FROM OUR HEAD OF SCHOOL, JOSEPH VORBACH:
It was great to see so many of you at our Back-to-School Night on Wednesday.
As I mentioned in my remarks in the auditorium, the evening is an important beginning of the year milepost for our community. With the students a few weeks in to the year, parents have a chance to meet the teachers their children have been talking about, and get a feel for the why, how and where of the learning experience.
In my role, it is always fun to see the excitement in your eyes. I know you are very interested in knowing more about the experience your child is having and in having the chance to walk in their footsteps. It is equally fun to see the anticipation in the eyes of our teachers, counselors and coaches. They care deeply about what they are doing and put a lot of thought into how they can share that with you in the few short minutes they have. That you would gain some sense of how committed they are to their vocation is very important to them. Finally, there are always many students with us on Back-to-School Night. Their pride in their school and gratefulness for their parents' sacrifices are both evident.
Back-to-School Night is also a moment when we are reminded of the magnitude of the vocation we have undertaken to assist you, the primary educators of your children. Your presence in the hallways reflects your love for them and highlights for us the critical partnership we have entered into. I tried in my remarks in the auditorium to communicate to you the seriousness of our commitment to our mission and to the safety and well-being of your children.
Over the past 150 years, Catholic education has played a vital role in the development of our country and Bishop O'Connell has contributed to that effort over the past 60 years to the tune of over 19,000 graduates. Today, we are dedicated to ensuring that the next chapters of the history of Catholic education in America and of Bishop O'Connell are marked by faithfulness to mission and excellence in education.