A SPICE 2003 Program
Faith in the City
Center City Consortium
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
The Center City Consortium, the cornerstone of a project called "Faith in the City," was formed in 1997 under the direction of James Cardinal Hickey, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. It was the vision and commitment of Cardinal Hickey that Catholic schools in the inner-city neighborhoods of Washington would not just survive but become centers of educational excellence serving those in the neediest neighborhoods of our nation's capital.
The consortium is a separate corporation under the archdiocese. The corporation has a staff that works with school principals to form a leadership team that carries out the daily operations of all eleven city schools. Standardized curriculum and procedures and a centralized development plan result in greater efficiency, reduced cost, increased income, additional educational programs, tuition assistance for students, teacher development, and higher quality instruction.
This new administrative model seeks to free principals to be strong educational leaders of their school communities. It also seeks to free pastors from their administrative duties in schools so that they might become more involved in pastoral duties in their parish schools. We continue to make progress and pray each day the words of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: "Lord, give me the light to know and the grace to do."
