As part of “All Things New,” the Archdiocese of St. Louis is examining our parishes, schools, ministries and agencies, evaluating our effectiveness in proclaiming the Gospel. Our goal is to “make all things new” by Gospel renewal and to enhance our evangelization to secure a vibrant future for our current students, as well as their children and grandchildren, by creating an educational model that is accessible, affordable, strong in Catholic identity, and more equitable towards our teachers.
As part of this prayerful discernment, Archbishop Rozanski recently sought additional input and feedback from current parish school teachers, staff, and school families about their Catholic school experiences. Nearly 1,900 teachers responded to their survey, and more 10,000 parents and guardians responded to their survey by answering both multiple-choice and open-ended questions.
You can see an overview of all the responses from across the Archdiocese and results of each parish school at allthingsnew.archstl.org. The survey results from our specific school have been sent to our pastor and principal, and parts have been shared with our teachers, staff, and school parents. They have provided excellent and important feedback to the Archbishop regarding your values and desires as they relate to the future of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Thanks to all who participated.
For any questions pertaining to “All Things New,” contact [email protected].
If you attended one of the listening sessions on Nov. 1 or 3, you should have received an email on Nov. 16 that included a link to the materials that were presented at the Planning Area 3 sessions. To access the material that was shared at our parish listening session, including the presentation, videos, and model option maps, click below.
Our Listening Session Presentation Materials
Also included in the email was a link to the follow-up online survey. Please note this is not the same as the DMI survey from this past summer. This particular survey is to gather your feedback about the models presented at the listening sessions as well as any other comments you would like to share. Once you start the survey online, you must complete it in a single session. You cannot pause and come back later to finish. Below, in addition to a link to the survey itself, there is also a link to all of the survey questions so you can review them and gather your thoughts before you go online to complete the survey.
Review the Survey Questions
Take the Survey Online
The survey must be completed and submitted by Dec. 31, 2022. You have time to review the presentation materials as many times as you need in order to make informed, prayerful decisions regarding your answers.
If you are unable to take the survey online or know someone who does not have access to a computer, please contact Mary Regan.
In response to the feedback received from school families, pastors, principals, teachers, and staff, along with the recommendation of the school planning committee, Archbishop Rozanski announced that, as part of its All Things New initiative, the Archdiocese of St. Louis is adjusting its implementation timeline for its 87 parish based K-8 schools from the 2023-2024 school year to the 2024-2025 school year.
It is believed that changes to schools will occur, organically at the parish level, allowing the parish communities themselves to come up with some creative solutions. Once the new parish landscape is known in May of 2023, the Office of Catholic Education and Formation along with the All Things New implementation team will work with parish and school communities on what changes could be made for the 2024-2025 school year.
The All Things New pastoral planning process will continue to work towards a reimagined parish landscape for Pentecost of 2023. Only after the Archdiocese has discerned what the parish landscape should look like will it discern what parish schools should look like, since they rely heavily on parish support.
We are grateful to all the administrators, teachers, and staff who have chosen to share their gifts to help raise our children in our Catholic faith. We are grateful to the parents for their commitment to Catholic education.
The goal of the Archdiocese is to create an educational model that is strong in Catholic identity, accessible, affordable, and more equitable towards our teachers. Many parishes that operate grade schools have struggled to find the balance between accessibility, affordability, and just teacher wages while also dealing with shifting demographics, all while being good stewards of the parish’s overall resources.
The Education Survey included questions for a variety of audiences including: school parents, alumni/volunteers/donors, school faculty and staff, PSR parents, and PSR catechists.
It was completed anonymously and did not require specification of any individual school or parish; therefore results are not specific to any school or religious education program. The results are overarching themes across the Archdiocese identified by survey respondents.
In total, the Education Survey received 18,653 responses throughout fifteen regions of the St. Louis Archdiocese.
This past Lenten season, our parish took part in a 75-question survey administered by the Catholic Leadership Institute, as part of the All Things New strategic plan for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The Disciple Maker Index (DMI) survey is designed to capture information regarding attitudes, beliefs, relationships, satisfaction, participation, and demographics, using a quantitative tool that can be used for benchmarking and trending information.
At St. Stephen Protomartyr, 384 people participated in the survey. Thank you for letting your voices be heard! A summary of key strengths and opportunities is provided in the graphics below. Based on the average October Sunday Mass count from 2015-2021, about 60% of Mass-going Catholics participated in the DMI survey in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. This is above the national average for other dioceses who have taken the DMI.
Father Ron Hopmeir, Pastor
Mary Regan, Pastoral Associate and Point of Contact
Christy Biundo, Key Parish Leader
Brooks Goedeker, Key Parish Leader
Leigh Manalang, Key Parish Leader
Andrew Rettig, Key Parish Leader
Gary Stoff, Key Parish Leader