What happens when more than 140 Catholic school leaders from five neighboring (arch)dioceses come together to share ideas, challenges, and experiences?
Ideas travel. Relationships form. And leaders return to their schools with new perspectives and practical strategies to share with their communities.
That spirit of collaboration was at the heart of the 2nd Annual Regional Catholic School Leadership Conference: Rooted in Mission, Ready for the Future, held August 6 at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.
Leaders from the Archdiocese of Washington, Archdiocese of Baltimore, Diocese of Arlington, Diocese of Wilmington, and Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston gathered for a day of professional learning, reflection, and connection.
The conference was the result of significant collaboration and planning, including the leadership of Dr. Denise Ball, who helped bring together Catholic school leaders, partners, and presenters from across the region around a shared purpose: strengthening Catholic education through learning and community.
Rooted in a Shared Mission
A central message of the conference was that Catholic school leadership is “holy work, human work, and future-shaping work.”
Throughout the keynote, leaders were invited to consider how mission is experienced in the everyday life of a Catholic school. Catholic identity, the presentation emphasized, is not an additional program—it is the lens through which decisions, classrooms, relationships, and routines are formed.
The message extended to school culture, belonging, teacher retention, hope, and leadership. Ultimately, strong programs and resources matter, but “people carry the mission.”
Learning From One Another
Some of the richest learning happened when leaders had opportunities to hear directly from—and talk with—one another.
A Reflections from the Field panel brought together Catholic school leaders to share experiences and perspectives from their own communities. These practitioner voices reinforced one of the greatest benefits of a regional gathering: a challenge facing one school may be something another leader has already begun to address.
That same exchange happened during Your Year Starts Now: Five Communication Strategies Every Catholic School Can Use, facilitated by ADAC Vice President of Marketing Vicky McCann.
Leaders discussed the marketing and communication strategies they are using in their own schools and shared ideas with colleagues around their tables. Participants also received ADAC’s Marketing Moments: Monthly Strategy Cards for Catholic School Leaders, a yearlong planning resource they could bring back to their school teams.
Their enthusiasm for sharing the resource back in their buildings was a reminder that the impact of professional learning should extend beyond the people in the room.
We Can Do More Together
The conference ended with a simple message: “We can do more together.”
That may also be the greatest value of gathering Catholic school leaders across (arch)diocesan lines.
A conversation can spark an idea. A resource can be shared with an entire faculty. A new relationship can become a colleague to call later in the year. And a practice working in one Catholic school can inspire another.
At ADAC, we were grateful to be part of a day that brought so many Catholic school leaders together to listen, learn, share, and prepare for the year ahead.
When mission is shared, ideas travel, and leaders learn together, Catholic education becomes stronger.
