The excitement is building as the faculty and staff at the 15 Diocese of Venice Catholic schools prepare lesson plans and decorate classrooms for the start of the 2024-2025 Academic Year on Aug. 12, 2024.
More than 80 new teachers were welcomed during an Aug. 2 orientation session at San Pedro Parish in North Port which was presented by the Diocesan Office of Catholic Education, and featured Superintendent Father John Belmonte, SJ, and Jennifer Falestiny, Director of Curriculum. The large number of new teachers is due to continued rapid increase in enrollment throughout the Diocese.
Father Belmonte first led the group in prayer and offered a brief history of Catholic schools in Florida and the Diocese of Venice. Father Belmonte stressed the need for the new employees to be “Catholic School Culture” advocates in whatever role they may have in the different schools. A “Catholic School Culture” is the vision, values, systems, language, expectations, behaviors, and beliefs that increase a school’s and Diocese’s chances of accomplishing the strategy of fulfilling its mission: to introduce the world to its Savior.
“To achieve this, each teacher must make their classroom a place of theological reflection, because this is where you will pray for them and challenge them to grow in their faith,” Father Belmonte said. ““In your classroom, in your school, in your heart; everything is sacred. Everything is given to us by God. It all has value. That is what we believe. You will learn from your own students about the faith, and together you will strive to help them to achieve the ultimate goal, that is to ascend to heaven.”
As Catholic school teachers, they must work to inspire, challenge and protect their students in the classroom where everything is sacred and holy, Father Belmonte continued. This includes all of those who teach, Father Belmonte said, including those who teach subjects other than religion or theology.
“We want each of our students to have meaning and purpose in their life by learning the sacredness of themselves,” Father Belmonte said. “You can do this by giving them the ‘best day of their life,’ every day.”
Throughout the day, the new teachers learned about the Diocese and the crucial role they will play in helping to build up the faith life of the students and families with whom they will interact. The group comes to the Diocese of Venice Catholic schools with a wide variety of personal and professional experiences and skills. A few in the group are new to teaching and were joyfully welcomed. Still others have many years of experience.
Falestiny explained that the Diocesan Catholic schools “do things better than other school systems. We have lots of programs and procedures in place that might seem overwhelming but they each serve a purpose, and you will get it eventually.”
The new teachers join the Diocese at a time of record enrollment at each school, with extensive waiting pools at several. Final numbers are expected to exceed 6,200 this year, representing a growth of more than 40 percent in the last four years.
Teachers at all 15 Diocesan Catholic schools work conscientiously to provide Christ-centered learning experiences that are translatable to the real world, providing children with the tools they need to be successful beyond the classroom.
During the orientation, the new teachers also took part in Diocesan Safe Environment training and learned about their employee benefits, risk management, workplace safety, certification process, as well as about standard and ethical conduct.
All Diocesan Catholic schools will open the week of Aug. 12. For more information about Diocese of Venice Catholic Schools, please visit https://dioceseofvenice.org/offices/offices-departments/education/.
