St. Aloysius Gonzaga School conscientiously seeks to put into practice the principles that the Catholic Church has outlined regarding education. First among these is the principle that parents are the “primary educators” of their children. This principle is also included in the school’s Philosophy Statement. The Congregation for Catholic Education explains the meaning of this principle:
The first and primary educators of their children are their parents. The school is aware of this fact but unfortunately, the same is not always true of the families themselves, it is the school’s responsibility to give them this awareness. Every school should initiate meetings and other programs, which will make the parents more conscious of their role, and help establish a partnership; it is impossible to do too much along these lines…. In addition, the school should try to involve the family as much as possible in the educational aims of the school-both in helping to plan these goals and in helping to achieve them (The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School – page 43).
Parents have a particular important part to play in the educating community; since it is to them that primary and natural responsibility for their children’s education belongs. Unfortunately, in our day there is a widespread tendency to delegate this unique role. Therefore it is necessary to foster initiatives which encourage commitment, but which provide at the same time the right sort of concrete support which the family needs and which involves in the Catholic School’s educational project. The constant aim of the school therefore, should be contact and dialogue with the pupil’s families, which should also be encouraged through the promotion of parent’s associations, in order to clarify with their indispensable collaboration that personalized approach which is needed for an educational project to be efficacious (The Catholic school on the Threshold of the Third Millenium – page 20).
In accordance with this principle, the school seeks and expects the active participation of parents in all aspects of school life. St. Aloysius Gonzaga School is a co-operative endeavor in which every family in the school community has a vital role to play. The school’s primary expectation of the parents is an active and on-going support of the religious formation, which the school seeks to develop in the children. Parents can do this by:
Taking time to talk to their children about God and their own journey of faith
- Praying together daily
- Attending Mass together on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation
- Being informed about the religious concepts that children are learning
- Continually reaching out to develop your own faith
Along with this spiritual support, we also expect that all parents become actively involved in school activities.
