Fordham Preparatory School - Ramview Ramview Summer/Fall 2019 | Seite 4

The subject of our conversation with Father Sosa was four new Universal
Apostolic Preferences that Father Sosa released this past February: 1)
Showing the Way to God; 2) Walking with the Excluded; 3) Journeying
with Youth; and 4) Caring for Our Common Home. These preferences are
intended to guide the Society and our works, which include Fordham Prep.
A few days before releasing them, as is the custom, Pope Francis received
these preferences from Father General and confirmed them, adding that the
first preference is the most important, and the one without which the other
three will not succeed to be truly “apostolic.”
The board’s conversation with Father Sosa was stimulating, inspiring, and
thought-provoking. He shared with us the process of discernment in which
he led a team of global leaders to reflect on the signs of the times, and our
Jesuit charism, mission, and Ignatian tradition, and to pray for the light of the
Spirit to help them identify new preferences to orient our work today. While
the articulation of these preferences may be new, their roots lay deep in the
foundation of our history.
Father Sosa emphasized that the task of using the preferences belongs to all
of those who work or volunteer within a Jesuit-sponsored institution: faculty,
staff, administration, board members, lay, and Jesuit. The preferences are not
meant to be implemented through a strategic plan or a series of action items.
However, to the extent that Fordham Prep does act and make decisions—in
concrete areas such as our enrollment, our curriculum, our physical plant,
and campus improvement plan—they should inform our vision and help us
approach our decision-making with the proper perspective.
As you will see in the following pages of this issue of Ramview, Fordham
Prep is a place, and an educational experience, shaped profoundly by these
preferences—from the values we articulate in our new mission statement to
the vibrant stories of our students’ and alumni commitment to service, and
how this commitment has transformed their hearts and minds.
Over each of the next four Ramview issues, we will focus more explicitly on
one of the preferences to see how it is reflected at Fordham Prep, and to ask
how we can continue to engage them to guide us into the future.
Christopher J. Devron, SJ
President
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RAMVIEW
Fordham Prep took park in the Jesuit Schools Network Colloquium at Loyola
University Chicago in June to engage in meaningful conversation about current
issues in Jesuit education with other Ignatian educators. We were invited to
reflect on the theme of “Building Communities of Justice and Hope,” sharing
best practices, learning from colleagues and friends, and placing our work in
the broader context of identity, ministry, and our global network.
While the Colloquium afforded us the time to reflect upon mission, the Prep
community did so through a revised mission statement: “Our mission is to
form leaders committed to faith, scholarship, and service through a college
preparatory education in the Catholic Jesuit tradition.” What does it mean to
form young men as leaders in 2019? Faith provides the foundation. Scholarship
stretches minds and imaginations. Service places our students at the margins
with those who are poor or vulnerable.
During these summer weeks, the Prep has been bustling with students in two
enrichment programs: Recruiting Excellence in Academics for Catholic High
Schools (REACH) for rising 6th graders and the Higher Achievement Program
(HAP) for rising 8th graders. Their energy and passion has kept our campus
alive. We were also busy preparing for the new academic year and the larger
academic initiatives in our strategic plan. Here are a few notable highlights
from last year:
• In the first full year of a revised grading system, our students continue to
excel in their academic studies across all four years. In the last quarter, 592
students merited either first or second honors.
• In May, 400 students took 745 AP exams. 108 students were named AP
Scholars. 300 students scored 3 or higher (75%), the fourth year in a row
where over 70% of students scored 3 or higher.
• Faculty continued work on curriculum review, including conceptual
curriculum maps, reviewing existing units against Understanding by Design
framework, and revising/creating unit materials.
• Our STEAM Task Force has provided the administration with
recommendations for implementing an iSTEAM program at the Prep.
• We continue to explore opportunities for promoting departmental and
interdisciplinary collaboration among our faculty and staff.
• PREPare Test Prep had a successful pilot year where students saw average
increases of 91 points overall from their PSAT to their first attempt on the SAT.
• Our College Counseling team continue to design programs to more
intentionally support first generation college-bound students.
There are countless good things happening each day at the Prep! As we
anticipate a new academic year, please know of my gratitude for your support,
encouragement, and ways that you live our mission. May the remaining weeks
of summer be a time of rest and renewal for you and all whom you love.
AMDG!
PRESIDENT
In mid-June, I had the opportunity to lead a pilgrimage of several present
and past trustees and their spouses on an Ignatian pilgrimage to Rome. In
addition to touring the rooms of Ignatius and the Gesu—the “mother church”
of the Society of Jesus—we had a nearly hour-long conversation with Very
Reverend Arturo Sosa, SJ, the current superior general of the Jesuits. Our
meeting took place at the General Curia, the global headquarters at the
Vatican where Father General and his staff live and work.
Joseph A. Petriello, PhD ’98
Principal
SUMMER 2019
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