Welcome – Executive Director

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint John Paul the Great, patron of DIA Schools. His words and witness during his 26-year pontificate were the inspiration behind our apostolate.  One of the main reasons we time our Summit each year in late October is to coincide with his Feast day, thereby honoring his legacy and convening our Catholic school teams of leaders and teachers to pray fervently for his intercession.

When the founding Board of DIA began to cast a vision for our apostolate, we decided to build the organization around eight belief statements. They are:

1. We are schools committed to supporting the New Evangelization of the Catholic Church in the United States.
2. We are schools who have a deep and abiding love for the Catholic Church and all her teachings.
3. We are schools who maintain that the ongoing spiritual formation of students, parents, faculty, and staff alike is at the heart of the work we are called to do as Catholic schools.
4. We are schools committed to sharing our best practices, resources, and personnel for our mutual benefit.
5. We are schools open to sharing relevant data in order to establish performance benchmarks in all facets of school administration.
6. We are schools with leadership committed to meeting frequently to collaborate and advance the mission of the collaborative.
7. We are schools that believe parents are the primary educators and, as such, must be fully supported in their efforts to provide an integral formation to their children.
8. We are schools that strive to live the works of mercy and reflect the missionary nature of the Catholic Church.

Now, seven years later, these statements form the pillars of our organization and have attracted more schools and dioceses to join this important work for the Catholic Church–both in the United States and abroad.  (Our first Catholic school from outside the US has recently joined DIA!)

We will continue to pray for your school, your diocese, and your ministry in Catholic education.  We have a great saint in heaven in JPII behind us and for us.  Saint John Paul the Great, pray for us!