West Catholic High School Strategic Plan

A. Provide formation to the staff that is rooted in the mission of the Catholic Church

• Reignited the annual staff retreat, holding year one at Aquiinas College

B. Journey beyond campus for evangelization, service and study

• 26 domestic WC students studied abroad in March-April 2024, earning cultural credit on their official transcripts, with one group in Madrid, Spain, and the other in Perugia, Italy; these trips will continue in future years

D. Discover innovative and forward-thinking programming to prepare students for tomorrow

• A group of six cross-departmental leaders visited area schools with a vision for increasing security, robotics programming, industrial arts, commons areas and performing arts; this continues to shape our strategic vision for the campus

A. Promote institutional advancement through coordinated planning and execution across operational functions

• Formed President’s Leadership Team and Principal’s Leadership Team, establishing weekly meetings to enhance collaboration and accountability

B. Be transparent and accountable to all stakeholders

• Project: Find the Falcons began during Homecoming 2023 with an updated website form to track alumni demographics; it continued with our first alumni networking event during Catholic Schools Week, where 100 attendees added their information
• The launch of West Catholic’s business directory also connects the school to its alumni base better than ever before
• In addition to our Weekly Chatter (weekly newsletter), we established a monthly Falcon Flyer for incoming families and a monthly alumni newsletter, which accompanies the printed Westword (alumni magazine)
• Social media engagement continues to climb
• Produced an annual report beginning in October 2023

C. Ensure organizational sustainability by being good stewards of our resources

• Organized departmental budgets for responsible management of each section of the budget
• Each department has now established a responsible three-year budget
• Monitored departmental spending and income with transparency to the school’s Finance Committee and Board

A. Provide formation to the staff that is rooted in the mission of the Catholic Church

• Faculty Formation meetings took place once a month on the school year theme “Pilgrims of Hope”
• Prayer Partners were reestablished amongst all faculty members
• The Annual Staff Retreat was held at St. Luke’s University Parish in Allendale with Fr. Nick leading the staff in personal formation and reflection.

B. Integrate Catholic teaching in all curricular areas for students

• Teachers were routinely invited and present at grade level retreats.
• The Profile of a West Catholic Athlete was created as a framework to ensure that the mission of the school was integrated into athletics for athletes and coaches.  This framework will provide administration a means to evaluate coaches and coaches a rubric to target faith integration into their programs.

A. Seek to know each student interested in West Catholic as unique, unrepeatable learners of faith and knowledge

• One of the major goals this year was to celebrate our students.  We have hosted talent shows, battle of the bands and brought back pep rallies to help our students showcase their God-given gifts.

B. Journey beyond campus for evangelization, service and study

• Students have embraced their faith publicly, with two members of the senior class getting Confirmed in the Catholic Church.
• A student addressed the whole student body to give a faith testimony on the importance of Reconciliation and being in good standing to Receive the Body of Christ. This message was also shared at a board meeting.
• Our student section leaders raised funds and delivered care packages to first responders and food shelters.
• We partnered with St. Giana’s, Help Crisis Pregnancy Aide, the Diocese of Grand Rapids Prison Ministries, Gogo Replay Toys, Toys for Tots, St. Mary’s food pantry

D. Lead the Catholic community with family-oriented programming of formation, service, retreats and pilgrimages

• The All A’s Classic contained a service component this year.  Following mass, students, staff and parents were missioned out to Kids Food Basket, Feeding America West Michigan, St. Ann’s Home,Villa Maria, Holy Cross Cemetery and various community residences providing service.
• The Parent Guild had two offerings: (names of them both). To educate parents on the consequences of dangerous behaviors in our teens and to prepare for college application processes.

A. Deliver individualized education to promote each student to his or her maximum potential

• Our Academic Philosophy is rooted in faith and utilizes formative and summative assessments to ensure student learning.  The process has been defined for our teachers and the gradebook has been updated to match this philosophy.
• Our school schedule committee has reimagined the school schedule to better meet the needs of students and ensure mastery of content.

D. Discover innovative and forward-thinking programming to prepare students for tomorrow

• Experiential learning is a priority in our classrooms and the capital campaign for Arts and Engineering demonstrates that value.
• Engineering classes built a shotput chair for a paraplegic
• Students created and presented non-profit companies to community members
• Students created, posted, and edited marketing and communications materials

C. Ensure organizational sustainability by being good stewards of our resources

• We have begun the process of building out our school recycling program.