"Fifty Years and Still Soaring" is the theme of the year-long celebration. To open the fiftieth anniversary and to launch the school into the next fifty years, there will be a celebration of the Eucharist on March 23 at 11 a.m. Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of Buffalo and Bishop Donald R. Trautman of Erie will be the principal concelebrants.
Priests and deacons from both dioceses, students from Archbishop Walsh, parochial students from New York and Pennsylvania, former principals and teachers, alumni, donors and friends will join the bishops in the mass.
Archbishop Walsh Academy faces a number of challenges similar to many Academies. One challenge is the formula that by which the Diocese of Buffalo will fund secondary education in 2010. The Archbishop Walsh Board of Trustees recently met to address this and several other important issues, including recruitment and Catholic identity. Mr. Robert McFarland, the president of the board, has announced that the board of trustees believes a key to the school's future is implementation of the school's recently updated strategic plan. During a training session for board members, Denise McKenzie, secretary of education for the Diocese of Buffalo, commented the strategic plan is one of the best she has seen among many Catholic high schools.
School finances are always a delicate balance between meeting expenses and making a Catholic school available, accessible and affordable for Catholics and others who want a Catholic education. The Erie Diocese already provides tuition assistance to students from McKean County. The Diocese of Buffalo will soon announce its new needs-based assistance program for secondary schools.
Building on this, the board of trustees is gathering a group of financial advisors, business people and other parties to recommend and implement a more comprehensive program of planned giving, annual appeals and fundraising. The intent is to increase the Archbishop Walsh Foundation to provide for more tuition assistance and other expenses.
The recruitment of new students is a key component of the strategic plan. The board of trustees appointed Michael Hicks as the recruitment director. Many students now receive a web-based newsletter to keep in touch with the school. The school has also used radio and television to reach the public.
Catholic identity and academics are central pieces of the plan. For example, Fr. Barry Allaire, the school's principal, has implemented regular sessions to instruct teachers on how to infuse Christian virtues in the area of academics.
Also in the key area of academics, the board of trustees has appointed a plan for more required courses, fewer study halls and a greater emphasis on student participation in academic competition. Greek and latin students participate in an international level in the Medusa and National Mythology exams. English students entered the Extension Magazine short story contest.
The board of trustees knows that all Catholic schools still face many challenges. Working together with the principal, staff, students, parents, alumni and friends will secure Walsh's future. It is this horizon that will allow Archbishop Walsh High School to fulfill its unique role to prepare young people from both dioceses as citizens of this world and the next.