Following its theme of “Transforming Catholic Education” the Drexel School System within the Diocese of San Jose is expanding from seven to 10 schools for the 2017-2018 school year.

Assistant Superintendent for Drexel Schools, Tara Rolle, Ed.D., recently announced that Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception School, Los Gatos; Saint Mary School, Gilroy; and Saint Elizabeth Seton School, Palo Alto, will join the Drexel family when students return to the classroom next fall.

“We are delighted to be able to accept three new schools into the Drexel School System in the Diocese of San Jose,” said Rolle. “In all three schools we were delighted to witness the exceptional level of teacher talent, coupled with the strong sense of individual school identity that we seek in applicant sites for the system. We are confident that these new additions will mutually benefit the schools and the Drexel School System and are enthusiastic about this continued movement towards the preservation and transformation of our Catholic schools.”

As its Mission Statement states, “The Drexel School System is a resource-rich, cutting-edge approach to Catholic education. Committed to redefining student engagement through robust technology and data-driven instruction, the Drexel School System is Transforming Catholic Education.”

“Given that the performance data of our Drexel schools validates that this instructional and governance model work to promote academically rigorous, Catholic schools, we must now challenge ourselves to scale swiftly so that we can accept schools ongoing into the System,” said Rolle. “We want to support as many schools in our Diocese as possible, keeping our hearts and minds attentive to the vision of St. Katharine Drexel to ensure that a Catholic education is accessible for all students in all communities.”

The Drexel School System began with the 2013-14 school year with the goal of leveraging governance models and technology capabilities to make Catholic Schools more effective, efficient and sustainable while growing an already strong Catholic identity.

According to Rolle, now in her second year guiding the system, site and system enrollment has started to increase, test scores and academic engagement online place in the top of the nation and the entire Drexel teaching community is engaged in assessment best practice.

The Drexel School System will begin considering applications from schools wanting to join the system for 2018-2019 in March 2017.

Full story at The Valley Catholic.