Fordham Preparatory School - Ramview Ramview FALL 2017 | Page 5

Another significant change for our
academic pursuits, student learning,
and technology integration is the
implementation of Schoology as our
new learning management system.
Schoology provides course
management, mobile learning and
support for system- wide
communication. It enables our
students and teachers to engage with
learning materials that enhance
connectivity and communication both
in and out of the classroom, allowing
students to digitally submit homework
assignments, review grades,
participate in interactive discussions,
receive announcements a nd
feedback, take assessments, write
academic blogs, and more.
I am also pleased to share that we
have expanded curricular offerings in
senior year in three academic
departments. In our Science
Department, three new electives are
in place. Aeronautical Science focuses
on the history, science, mathematics
and wonder of controlled flight.
Students simulate the operation of
various aircraft using Edustation, an
educational flight simulator. Fordham
Prep is the only Jesuit high school in
our province to house professional
flight simulators and offer this unique
learning opportunity. Biological
Anthropology Honors surveys the
history of evolutionary thought, the
biological mechanisms that allow for
evolutionary change, and the fossil
record that shapes our
understanding of modern human
evolution. Meteorology involves a
comprehensive, in-depth study of the
atmosphere, severe weather,
geography, climate change, and
weather forecasting.
Our English Department
re-envisioned our long-standing
Writing Seminar Honors course to
help students develop the critical
skills necessary to succeed in a
college classroom through written
clarity and personal style.
Semester-long offerings include
fiction, personal non-fiction, poetry,
and storytelling across genre. Lastly,
our Religious Studies Department
created a new course, The Ignatian
Imagination, which explores the
Catholic and Ignatian imagination
present in literature, film, music and
other media. Our Jesuit regent, Mr.
Daniel Gustafson, SJ, designed this
course, and it has drawn interest
from 78 seniors. They will study the
autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola,
the Spiritual Exercises, Jesuit history
and Ignatian leadership.
At our opening faculty/staff meeting, I
shared with my colleagues my vision
of Jesuit education as
accompaniment: a shared journey of
faith, which informs our efforts in
academic scholarship toward human
excellence, to go out into the world to
put our gifts and knowledge at the
service of others, most especially the
poor and the vulnerable. Our
commitment to faith, scholarship and
service comes alive in our efforts of
companionship, dialogue and
collaboration. These values are not
isolated to Fordham Prep. They
connect us to our brother and sister
schools throughout the Jesuit Schools
Network.
All Jesuit schools must provide a
curriculum and a school environment
that helps young people in three
ways: 1) to form their consciences; 2)
to learn from the Jesus of the Gospels
how to match their talents to the
needs of their times; and 3) to
balance social and political points of
view in discourse steeped in Ignatian
discernment that leads if not to
agreement, then to mutual respect
and a desire for reconciliation. This is
a bold, shared mission. In a time
fraught with increasing division,
conflict and uncertainty, the values
that carry our work as Ignatian
educators at Fordham Prep are
needed more than ever to guide our
young men to grow as persons of
faith committed to justice, peace and
love.
counseling, as well as the increased
demands of college counseling
expected of a top-tier college
preparatory school in the Catholic
and Jesuit tradition. Now each
student will have the same school
counselor for all four years, and gain
a college counselor in his junior and
senior years to specifically focus on
the college application and
admissions process.
In a recent article on Ignatian
leadership, Sarah Broscombe states,
“everyone shaped by an Ignatian
education is formed to lead, whether
they are in charge or not. If you are
Ignatian, you are called to be aware
of how you are leading in your life,
and the impact of that on others.”
As we enter an exciting year of new
opportunities and challenges, I hope
that all in our community will walk
with one another, listen to one
another, and work with one another
to advance the Prep’s mission in
service of our students. Let us
prayerfully remember that our work
is ultimately God’s, and in our shared
faith find deep freedom and joy in
accompanying one another and our
students. I pray for a year filled with
many graces for each of you. God
bless.
Joseph A. Petriello, PhD ‘98
Principal
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