Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Potomac Shores celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany with special joy when the school learned that they were accepted into the Cardinal Newman Society as an “exemplar of faithful Catholic education for other schools nationwide.”
The Merrifield-based Newman Society publishes the Newman Guide, which lists Catholic schools that are academically “strong and sound” and meet the society’s stringent standards.
“We are grateful to the Cardinal Newman Society for this recognition of our efforts to remain faithful to the mission of Catholic education,” said Dominican Sister Mary Grace Watson, head of school. “It is a testimony to the daily efforts of our entire faculty, staff, and administration, who work tirelessly to bring the truth of Jesus Christ to young people so that they in turn, will go forth into our world as courageous and joyful disciples.”
The process to become a Newman Society school was thorough, said Dominican Sister Ann Dominic Mahowald, assistant principal of student life and discipline, who spearheaded the school’s application efforts. “The application process took several months and required a thorough examination of John Paul’s mission, policies, and faculty. We are proud of our Catholic mission and want others to know our faith is central to educating our youth.”
“The Newman Society and Saint John Paul the Great share a vision and mission as well as our firm belief in the importance of Catholic education. John Paul is honored to be ranked with other prestigious, faithful Catholic institutions of education,” she said.
John Paul began partnering with its first college that is recommended in the Cardinal Newman Guide three years ago with a dual enrollment cell phone photography course through The Catholic University of America in Washington. This course is taught by Matthew Barrick, who has been a lecturer of photography at Catholic U. for nearly 30 years and teaching at John Paul for almost 10. Last school year, John Paul secured a partnership with a second college recommended in the Catholic Newman Guide, Franciscan University of Steubenville, adding three dual enrollment religion courses and one bioethics course to its academic offerings.
In setting up dual enrollment opportunities with both Catholic U. and Franciscan, Greg Haas, assistant principal of academics, noted that the school was attempting to think outside the normal parameters in order “to build partnerships as a way of extending our Catholic mission and to serve our specific student population.”
“While we were offering students opportunities to gain over 70 credit hours in traditional dual enrollment courses, we felt we were missing an opportunity to serve those students who wanted to go to Catholic colleges to study theology, nursing and bioethics,” he said.
Currently, John Paul is the only diocesan high school to offer dual enrollment courses in both religion and bioethics.
Jim Florio, John Paul religion teacher, teaches one of the dual enrollment courses through Franciscan, which is where he earned his master’s in catechetics and evangelization online. He had been teaching RCIA at his parish for 10 years and wanted to delve deeper into his knowledge of the faith.
He began his master’s during his career as a Secret Service agent, taking an average one course per semester due to his busy work and travel schedule. He once had to ask for an extension on a project because he couldn’t bring his laptop with him to China. Florio retired from the Secret Service in 2016 and began at John Paul in 2018.
“My last assignment in the Secret Service was training new and experienced agents. I enjoyed being in the classroom setting and decided to pursue teaching as a second career.” he said. When he heard that the Dual Enrollment Foundations of Catholicism course was being offered at John Paul, he jumped on the opportunity to teach it.
As John Paul continues to implement its strategic plan, the school looks forward to additional opportunities to partner with other institutions like the Cardinal Newman Society and Franciscan University to achieve ever greater heights of excellence.
