9/16/22 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: 8th Grade Boys Have Spirit!

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family,

School is in its groove now. The new pencils are a little worn. New sneakers are a little scuffed. Tests have been taken, some successfully, some maybe not so much. We are almost to the halfway point of the first quarter already!

Within the ebb and flow of a school year comes issues. Frederica is not doing her homework (names have been changed to protect the innocent!). Boris has been disrupting the class. Blake has been mean to Belinda, and Belinda maintains that she has been nothing but nice to Blake.



The shine on the silver with adults starts to get a little tarnished as well. Mrs. Abercrombie, the teacher, is viewed by Mr. Fitch, the parent, as unsympathetic to the needs of his daughter, Irene. Mrs. Laurel, the teacher, is not sure why Mrs. Hardy, the parent, is doing her daughter, Lakota’s homework. And lots of people are wondering what hairbrained scheme the principal, Mr. Rooney is up to these days.

I once worked in another Catholic school where a man, after a successful career working in public schools, went to work at our school. He had faced many issues of discipline and motivation at the public school and had the reputation of being firm, but fair, and extremely proficient in helping his students to learn.

After about six weeks in our Catholic school the teacher quit in disgust and frustration. “I thought Catholic school kids were not supposed to be behavior problems,” he said. “I am shocked.”

From time to time, parents with no background or experience in Catholic schools enroll their son or daughter in a Catholic school. Sometimes they become disillusioned that our students are normal. That they don’t have angel wings on their backs.

The fact is that Our Lady of Peace, like any place where there are hundreds of children and scores of adults, can have issues. People, students, and adults, sometimes make poor choices. People, students, and adults, sometimes bring baggage into the building because of issues in their lives outside of school. And, like other places where there are hundreds of children and scores of adults, the optimism and promise of August starts to show a little wear and tear by the end of September.

But Our Lady of Peace is, at the end of the day not like any other building. And the difference here is what helps to make us, not a perfect school but a successful one.

I have always found, that in talking to teachers, staff, and parents, we all agree on most issues of right and wrong, correct, and incorrect behavior. We may not always agree on what to do to fix a problem, but we are usually are in agreement that there is a problem that needs to be fixed. When all the adults in each child’s life are on the same page about most things, each child has a much better chance of succeeding.

We try very hard at Our Lady of Peace to have a low drama school. No drama is not attainable, but low drama means that we try to deal with issues honestly and consistently and quickly. The open-door policy here is a fact not a slogan. Civil communication is key between students and teachers, teachers and teachers, parents and teachers. Let’s work the problem instead of making the problem worse.

As a Catholic school we are free to talk about discipline and decisions and demeanor and dialogue with one another by explicitly using the Gospel message. We should be nice to one another because it is central to Christ’s message.

Forgiving each other our faults is in the very words of Jesus’ prayer to us, the Our Father. And in praying together we hold Jesus to His promise that whenever two or more are gathered in His Name, there He is in the midst of us.

If we devote this school year to living the Gospel message, to praying for each other, and for an increase in our own virtues, then our school year will be blessed. While we cannot hope for perfection we can hope- and pray- for knowing and understanding God’s real presence in our lives and in our school building. From there we can build God’s Kingdom right here on Dominion Blvd.

Jim Silcott