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PAVING THE PATHWAY BEYOND THE PANDEMIC BY FR. IAN GIBBONS, SJ, PRINCIPAL
“A great accomplishment shouldn’t be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward.” — HARVEY MACKAY Thus saith this celebrated author in his classic Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty. Throughout the pandemic, it has been challenging to see beyond the immediate crises at hand. The proverbial digging of wells has had to wait. Our Pandemic Response Team has done a tremendous job in keeping us safe, and we are deeply grateful for their efforts. They have been tasked with building schedules, generating safety protocols, securing resources and equipment, preventing viral infection, creating pandemic communications and reports, as well as creating plans to reopen our school in a safe and impactful manner. To help move SLUH past the pandemic, our Strategic Summit Team (SST) will prepare us for our next five years. The SST will prioritize, assess and provide direction for strategic issues related to all areas of academics, co-curriculars and student life for the Academic Years 20232027. These primary focus areas include: • Faculty Formation: Make visible the standards of excellence for being an educator at SLUH; celebrate successes and provide feedback
and opportunities to grow; and encourage a culture of self-reflection, constructive feedback and planning for growth. • Grade Level Guides: Develop an administrative and programmatic structure wherein the student experience is intentionally curated and carefully, personally implemented with particular attention to the needs of each grade level. • Grading Policy and Communications: Create a grading policy grounded in a shared understanding of academic rigor that promotes accuracy, fairness and student motivation; frame out a plan for associated practices of communicating grades that are clear and understandable to teachers and students, as well as parents, counselors, administrators, colleges and other community partners; and build out the resources needed to implement policies. • Graduation Requirements and 21st Century Skills: Clearly identify the educational objectives that a SLUH student should obtain throughout his four years that will allow him to
“While so many institutions are preparing to exit the pandemic with a return to what was, SLUH is focussing on what will be.” – FR. IAN GIBBONS, SJ
fully understand himself as a child of God and equip him with the skills and competencies to succeed in a modern, globally connected world. • Schedule and Calendar: Create an innovative working schedule and instructional calendar for academic year 2022-2023. While so many institutions are preparing to exit the pandemic with a return to what was, SLUH is focussing on what will be. We are building the wells for our third century. Amidst a departure from locked-down constraints, SLUH is launching toward an open, bold future.
