February
11, 2005
Dear Friends,
May I begin by introducing myself to you. I am Father Arthur Leger,
S.J. the new Director/Principal of Xavier High School. I assumed
the responsibilities in July, 2004. I replaced Fr. Jim Croghan,
S.J who is presently at Harvard University as part of his sabbatical
year. Father Jim has taken a well-deserved break in higher academia.
We will see him back in the islands in September of this year.
I would like to thank Fr. Jim, the parents, alumni and benefactors
for your dedication and support for this school. Xavier has made
a difference through its mission to provide quality education.
We pledge to continue to educate competent, conscientous and compassionate
leaders for the islands.
In the last eight months since taking over from Fr. Jim, I have
been trying to continue the good work already begun by my recent
predecessors. Yet at the same time, I have had to make strategic
plans about the future of Xavier High School. I have called this
process “looking from the past into the future”. This
is a phrase that is linked to the mascot of the school, which
is the Micronesian navigator. The traditional navigator is an
excellent model for planning since he uses the traditional wisdom
of the past to plan his journey into the unknown ocean. I extrapolate
this idea more in the Navigator’s
Log.
The three-person administrative
team have attempted make the transition from the past to the
present as crisis free as possible. In order to this we have attempted
to work with some of the recommendations given to me by Father
Jim and Fr. Pat Sullivan (acting Director 1995-1997). We have
also worked with the action plans that were presented in the WASC
self-study report of 2000. We followed a strict timeline and planned
to accomplish several projects and reports before the first Board
of Directors’ meeting, held last week. This is the main
reason why you have not heard officially from the school. We felt
it was important that we should have substantial information to
pass onto you before we actually reconnected with the stakeholders.
I thank you for your patience.
All the information that we have put together is now on the new
XavierMicronesia website. This was presented to the Board and
the student study for review last week. We feel that this presentation
will give you a sense of what we mean by “looking from the
past into the future.” For those who do not have internet
access, we have several enclosures that will give you a summary
of the new directions we are attempting to move Xavier High School.
The
first enclosure is my personal reflection of how I view Xavier
from the point of view of an islander and a Jesuit. The title
is “From the Past into
the Future.”
The
second enclosure is called the “Beacons”.
Like the navigator of old, we will use these 6 C's to guide
our journey. The 6 Cs is a combination of practical concerns
and values that will guide the changes
that we have begun to implement. The first three comes from
the past: alumni, former teachers, administrators and families,
who have voiced their concerns about the cleanliness of the
campus, the struggles to find cash, and the affirmation on the
Catholic identity. The last three Cs are part of the profile
of a graduate who has received Jesuit education. Jesuit schools
seek to educate competent, conscientous and compassionate leaders
for service.
The
third enclosure is our “Needs”.
In order achieve our 6Cs we need money, personnel and infrastructure.
Over the past few months, the leadership team has put together
a list of needs based on the past plans and future. We need
your assistance and we thank for your generous support in the
past years.
I assure all stakeholders that the same canoe
that was launched 52 years ago is again setting sail with a new
team of master navigators, who respect the wisdom of the past,
but look to the future with determination and hope.
God bless,
Arthur Leger, S.J
