As I sit to write this post, I am about an hour away from cooking a couple hundred hamburgers and hot dogs as a “thank you” for another year of 100% participation in the Regis Fund. In keeping with the “100% participation” theme, there is also a 100% chance of precipitation. St. John Francis Regis, pray for us!

Beyond my gratitude for another amazing year for the Regis Fund, I am also grateful for a couple of great professional development and networking opportunities I have recently enjoyed. As you know, Regis is proudly a member of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools and the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. Each of these organizations has recently held its fall meetings for Heads of School. While being away from campus presents its challenges, each of these meetings presented a wonderful opportunity to learn, grow, and speak with other Heads of School about what is going on out there.

The first of the two meetings was the fall membership meeting for Heads of Sacred Heart Schools, held in St. Charles, Missouri, in late October. A big theme for the meeting was the relationship between the Society of the Sacred Heart and its schools, as, for the first time, none of the Network schools are currently run by RSCJ Sisters. It is extremely important to the Society that the tradition of Sacred Heart education continues to build upon the vision of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and the fortitude of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, and as the average age of the Sisters approaches 82, the Society is planning for a future that rests on the shoulders of lay school leaders. I had the opportunity to connect with a good number of the RSCJ while in St. Charles, and I learned a great deal about the huge amount of expertise they have in a wide variety of fields. Sr. Sharon Karam, who serves on the Regis Board of Directors, gave a stellar presentation on how the Society evolved after the Second Vatican Council, and it struck me how similar our world today looks to the world of the 1960s and 1970s. The mission of Sacred Heart education is just as relevant and important in today’s chaotic world as it was on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement and American involvement in the Vietnam War. Sr. Karam eloquently articulated that a personal and active faith in God, a deep respect for intellectual values, a social awareness that impels to action, the building of community as a Christian value, and personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom are timeless values that have never and will never go out of vogue and are fundamental to our students’ navigation of complex times.

The second meeting was a gathering of Heads of Schools hosted by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest, one of our accrediting bodies. Topics presented ranged from a conversation around the importance of focusing on wellbeing in our schools, to hot legal topics in independent education, to building compassion in our school communities, to the importance of teaching democratic principles in what is bound to be another wild election cycle. As Heads, we had the opportunity to offer solutions that are working in our own school communities, and it is safe to say that I learned quite a bit.

Along those lines, these meetings are great opportunities to network with other Heads of School and to share the wonderful things happening at Regis. Building community with like-minded schools inside and outside the Sacred Heart network serves as a reminder that we are not alone in navigating the challenges all schools face and offers a great chance to build connections with communities similar to and different from ours.

There is huge value in being part of something larger than ourselves. As a Catholic, Sacred Heart, independent, all-boys school, we are unique in the city of Houston. That said, the occasional reminder that we are not alone in being Catholic, or Sacred Heart, or independent, or focused on all-boys education. We have a great deal to share with peer schools and also a great deal to learn from them. It’s easy to think of other schools, certainly in Houston, as competitors, but gatherings such as these remind us that we are all partners in the most important endeavor of preparing students for the world we will eventually expect them to enrich and make better. There’s a right-fit school out there for every family, and I consider myself fortunate to lead what I hope you see as a right-fit school for your boys. God Bless, and GO KNIGHTS!