Principals from the Diocese of Arlington gathered at St.
Bernadette School in Springfield Aug. 8 to prepare for the new school year.
They began the day with Mass and heard presentations by several diocesan
representatives.
Maureen Ashby, president of the Arlington Principals Association,
and principal of Holy Spirit School in Annandale, said the primary mission for
principals is to lead students to heaven.
“You hope that you have chosen faculty who are driven by that
mission and you can guide your parent community and students toward that goal,”
she said. “Everything else comes along with it — the great academics that are
in this diocese, but that faith formation piece is huge, and I think we owe
that to our children. That starts with the principals that are here and the
commitment that they have to the diocese. It shows every day with the amount of
work these principals put into the school, the number of hours they put in.”
Ashby said there’s much for the parents to be proud of in the diocese.
“Enrollments are strong in our schools, you have amazing parental commitment to
our schools, and I think that feeds the energy that our students then feel on a
day-to-day basis that the adults in their lives are really engaged with them
and care about them and their success.”
Joseph E. Vorbach III, diocesan superintendent of schools, shared
the goal of principals.
“What we are trying to get done every day at our schools is bring
the young students closer to God and have them know Jesus loves them,” said
Vorbach. “That means we need to be mission focused and there should be lots of
evidence of that mission focus in what we do. But I think, more than anything,
it is about all of us grownups in the building, and the leadership tone that
you set will show them that God loves them, and they’ll feel that, and the
specialness of what we are doing in Catholic education will be manifest in that
way.”