Annual Report 2012-2013 | Page 4

Holy Cross, stated that the work that we do is a work of resurrection; that we must teach our students all that they should know and prepare them to be good citizens not only in society but in the kingdom of God. From the time our students and their parents come to us as freshman or transfers, what they find is a passion for academic challenge, life-changing knowledge, global awareness, and social justice. The journey they make through high school is a time in which they find out who they are and what talents they have, who they can be, and most importantly, who they should be as moral and ethical leaders. This vision, instilled more than 175 years ago by the Congregation of Holy Cross, believed that together we can achieve outcomes that surpass the reach of anyone pursuing a goal alone. That is the beauty of this special family we call Bishop McNamara High School. Our union — parents, students, teachers, administrators, volunteers, alumni, and benefactors — has the ability to “move and sanctify the world” (Moreau, 1856). Dear Bishop McNamara Families and Friends, Wow, what a year it was! As we reflect back on the 2012-2013 school year, I am in awe of all that we have accomplished and all that we are becoming as a school. The journey of a school community is not that much different than the journey each individual goes through in life — there are ups and downs, moments of ecstasy and troubling times, great decisions made, and critical turning points. Psychologist Abraham Maslow referred to this process as the journey toward self-actualization, stating, “What a person can be, he/she must be.” The process of getting there refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency to become actualized in what is our greatest potential. Some would describe this tendency as the desire to become more and more of what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming. The 2012-2013 school year marked another large step toward fulfilling our potential of becoming a leading, Catholic high school in the Washington Metropolitan area, across the country, and around the world. Our success as a school is defined by the kind of students we produce — those that are committed to excellence; exhibit self-awareness; live, think and act justly and morall