One Parent's observation:
I was thinking that in addition to the harm that Prep was doing to students, there is harm being done to other children, namely, we parents, who are also children of God and children of the Church. Just like the students, we are being abused, bullied, maligned, lied to, and denied our rightful roles as primary educators as Prep steals our authority and interferes with the parent child relationship.
We are demoralized. We are losing hope and are angry that we are being cut off from one of our vocation’s main obligations. This causes us to feel guilt and shame in our misplaced trust. We feel neutered by those we trusted with our greatest treasures, sickened and saddened as our children pull away from the faith and from civic engagement because they’ve learned those are dangerous territories. They often become lukewarm and indifferent unaware of the greater danger these attitudes pose for their souls, our Church, our country, and world.
Many, as you heard today, are losing their faith in the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Catholic Church. Whole families are becoming orphans cut off from Mother Church. They end up becoming counter witnesses and de-evangelizers as they take their festering wounds into the broader culture further damaging the Church’s witness of God’s mercy and justice.
We are ALL harmed in significant ways when those with religious authority act to replace the pure moving waters of the Holy Spirit with a toxic sludge that paralyzes the proclamation of Christ’s truth.
About Us statement:
Like everybody else, life is really busy. That is one of the many reasons we chose our school...out of a sense of trust and some relief of the oversight of our children's education. We trusted the school would teach Jesus' commands to love God above all things and to love your neighbor as yourself; while difficult to put into practice, these commands are pretty straightforward as being the guiding principles for any Catholic educational institution. But online classes in 2020 and 2021, conversations with our kids and their friends, and outreach to other parents has made clear that the school doesn't fully deserve that trust at the present moment. While most (90-95%) of the academics at the school are just fine, that 5-10% invoking aspects of Critical Theory are potentially damaging how our kids will interact with life.
Potentially harming the school's moral and financial positions, these teachings have led some parents to pull their children from the school, are building distrust wth leadership and faculty among some current parents, and resulted in some long-term supporters modifying their estate plans that previously included the school. We don't see how this won't worsen if the school maintains its course, as more and more of the community become aware.
I'm engaged and I'm asking you to engage to help the school regain our trust. Many parents, alumni, and community have come together as the "Concerned". A letter was sent to the Board and Administration. Over 200 have signed the Petition. Please sign the Petition and/or contact the Board and Administration to express your own concern and solidarity with the Concerned and request the public forum we feel is needed to provide guidance to the school.