Overview
Our Philosophy of Education
Gloucester Catholic High School is a Catholic school in the Diocese of Camden, New
Jersey. Our Catholic school creates a unique setting within the ideal of Christian
education, “to make people’s faith be-come living, conscious, and active through
the light of instruction.”
Gloucester Catholic’s educational program is unique because
its design and operation foster and integrate religion with the task of learning
and living. It is contemporary because it enables students to address with Christian
insight the multiple problems facing individuals and society today. It is oriented
toward Christian service by providing students with the opportunity to acquire skills,
virtues, and habits of both heart and mind required for effective service to others.
Gloucester Catholic’s philosophy of education is an outgrowth of our definition
of a Catholic institution. A school’s philosophy must be predicated in some way
on the societal conditions in which it exists, because the primary role of that
school is to prepare young people to take a responsible place in that society. Gloucester
Catholic students do not simply fit into or cope with society; they are young men
and women capable of taking active roles in shaping that society. It should be recognized
that high school years make a lasting imprint on the spiritual character of young
people. Our philosophy of education is concerned with the whole student-the spiritual
and ethical, the intellectual and physical, the psychological and societal.
We are
not only physical, but spiritual beings. The integration of religious truths and
values with life distinguishes the Catholic school from other schools. This integration
is a matter of crucial importance today in view of contemporary trends and pressures
to compartmentalize life and learning, and to isolate the religious dimension of
existence from other areas of human life.
Each student is an individual whose potential
must be challenged and whose uniqueness must be nurtured. Because of the demands
of our pluralistic society, intellectual growth is essential. Therefore our school
insures this growth by providing a curriculum which is challenging and varied, giving
each student the opportunity to develop according to his or her own ability and
interest.
Although we are individuals, we must live in society. Thus, the school
must provide students the opportunity to live in a community where the qualities
of understanding, respect, and compassion are valued. Ethical orientation toward
each other within both the school and secular communities is as important to us
as our students’ cognitive growth. Students are taught to take responsible roles
in society, and to this end the school expects the students to learn and practice
leadership, taking responsibility for their actions.
Therefore, the concerns of
our school are: first, to provide a community of faith in which our value system
and the student’s spirituality are supported and developed; secondly, to provide
the student with the opportunity to grow intellectually and physically according
to his or her own capabilities; and finally, to provide for the student’s psychological
and social well-being. The student is thereby led to take his or her place as an
active member in the community.