You duped me O Lord and I let myself be duped!

 In-person or remote?

That seems to be the question I get most lately.  We live in a VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) and COVID has done what it does...magnifies our reality.  Please take a moment and read our blog about reopening plans.

What is the answer to our present world's dilemmas?  

1. Flexibility – willingness to try new things.
2. Speed – rapidly grasping new ideas.
3. Experimenting – testing out new ideas.
4. Performance risk taking– taking on challenges.
5. Interpersonal risk taking – asking others for help.
6. Collaborating – leveraging the skills of others from different functions.

Or put more simply, the answer to VUCA is:  Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility.  The problems we are facing do not necessarily have binary answers, they are much more nuanced and need a great tolerance for risk and uncertainty.  Colin Powell's famous leadership primer can be downloaded here.

What a privilege to be duped!

Fr. John Foley, SJ

Fr. John Foley came into my life when I was 24 years old.  By coincidence (maybe) we both enrolled in a graduate counseling class as Loyola University.  He was back in the US for a few months.  He had been a missionary in Peru for 20+ years.  He was going back after this respite.  We hatched a plot to bring 12 students from Loyola Academy to work and live in the Third World for 8 weeks in the summer of 1976.  That's why I spent the bi-centential in Juliaca, Peru!  In any event we became good friends and after I moved to Cleveland, John was called back in the early '90's to lead an effort of the Chicago Province to minister to the Latinos in Chicago.  That, of course, became the great movement of Cristo Rey Schools.  In 2000, John called me to ask if I would accompany him to Peru for a fact finding trip regarding how to build a network of schools.  He had just recently hatched a plot (he's always hatching a plot) with B. J. Cassin to create a Cristo Rey school in every major American city!  In any event, I thought the idea to be fanciful, but I would not pass up a free trip to Peru with my great friend, John Foley! 

Montenegro Chapel

While there I had what I can only characterize as a mystical experience in a small chapel in the Montenegro neighborhood of Lima at a school, Fe y Alegria #37.  There were no words or even any message in that experience...just feelings or fear, awe, love, being loved and somehow being overwhelmed by an experience of God.  My life was forever changed in that moment (it lasted less than a minute).  I came back from Peru hell bent to start a Cristo Rey school in Cleveland.  That was in October of 2000.  I was principal of Saint Ignatius High School and then, just like that, we opened the doors to Saint Martin de Porres High School and had our first Mass of the Holy Spirit on September 3, 2004.  

In 2018, I stepped down at the founding President and was named Founder.  Through a series of conincidences (maybe) I went to New York to meet with the founders of Partnership Schools New York.  In talking with Jill Kafka, the executive director, she asked, "Why are you here, again?"  I told her that we were thinking of starting a grade school in our soon to be empty 1912 school building.  She quite simple said this, "Why, don't you have grade schools in Cleveland?"  Well, of course we did, but my view is that most were not doing a very successful job in the academic realm.  She said, "Well, make them better!"  So just as I was contemplating a slower life, perhaps consulting and helping other schools, the words of Jeremiah came to life again, "I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more.  But then it becomes like fire buring in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it." (Jer 20.7-9)  I came back from New York City hell bent to bring the Partnership Schools model to Cleveland!  

This isn't about Rich Clark, it is about God using Rich Clark with all his weaknesses.  So as I come up on my twentieth anniversary of that fearful moment in a little chapel in Montenegro, I thank God for giving me a chance to be his instrument!

O woman, great is your faith!

 Full speed ahead!!!

Dominic Ozanne recounting his days in the 

principal's office at Saint Ignatius!

This week saw a tremendous amount of activity at Archbishop Lyke and St. Thomas.  Dominic Ozanne stopped by yesterday at both schools to check on the progress.  We had an impromptu walk down memory lane sparked by sitting in Ms. Dengler's Principal's Office!  Carpentry work, painting, moving of materials, cleaning...all getting ready for September 8. 

By next week all of this paint will be on the walls!!

Presently our families are taking advantage of either in person instruction or on-line streaming at about an equal rate.  George Grenier will be coming from New York in the Partnership Van with PPE for the schools.  Enrollment is still active and new students are coming each week.  The Cleveland Scholarship window is still open!  Portia Gadson, our enrollment manager, is utilizing all means necessary to spread the word!

Professional Development on over-drive!

Zoomland!  Clockwise from upper left:  
Christian Dallavis, Nancy Lynch, Rachael Dengler

Teachers and principals are zooming almost daily.  Christian Dallavis, Assistant Superintendent of Partnership Schools and our two principals, Rachael Dengler (St. Thomas Aquinas) and Nancy Lynch (Archbishop Lyke) are in constant communication. The Partnership is already paying dividends by creating cohorts of new teachers from NY and Cleveland!  Teachers are preparing for an exceptional beginning of school in the time of Covid!  

Building a community of supporters!  Help!

In the last month, I have been meeting with people almost everyday.  Everyone I have talked with has been so positive about our mission!  I remember in 2000, when I began to talk about Cristo Rey, people knew very little about the idea.  I made the circuit talking at teh First Friday Club, an occasional parish, people's living rooms and churches throughout Cleveland.  Those were the days!  Now much of my networking is done one on one in the Metroparks our outdoor coffee shops, on the phone, or through email and the like.  People are beginning to ask for tours.  I gave one early last week and one yesterday.  The one yesterday was with Pete.  Pete was blown away by the character of the building at St. Thomas Aquinas.  He saw twenty union painters busy working on a Saturday morning.  We walked outside and around the neighborhood.  We saw the magnificent old St. Mary's Seminary Building on Ansel Rd.  It is now the Hitchcock Center for Women.

After the tour, Pete texted me and thanked me and told me how encouraged he was to see what we are doing...it is faith in action!  Fear not, just have faith!

Spread the news!  Volunteers needed!

Please share this blog with your friends or people you think might be interested.  My contact info is richard.clark@partnershipcle.org or 216-409-7018.  Stay tuned for our online event coming soon.  As we get the buildings ready we really could use some volunteer labor to help us organize and bring stuff to the dumpster or decorate an area.  Just email me and I will set up a time!

A tiny whispering sound...

 

Partnership Schools Cleveland team featured on Sounds of Ideas

This past week, Portia Gadson, Enrollment and Recruitment Coordinator; Christian Dallavis, Assistant Superintendent; and Rich Clark, Founding Director of Partnership Schools Cleveland, joined Rick Jackson on WCPN for story about us!   This link will take you to the whole show, our segment runs from 11:10-37.38.  Portia, Christian and I are the staff for Cleveland.  Portia has led the charge on enrollment and our numbers are strong!  Christian has been working closely with our two principals as well as the faculties of both schools.

Mission Forward!

Our mission is to teach, love, and care for our community.  We believe that great schools are guided by faith and values, grounded in rigorous content, supported by quality professional development, and

animated by a clear vision.  The first day of school for Cleveland Partnership Schools is September 8, 30 days from now.  Our plan is to accomplish that mission in the best way possible.  Sans COVID, in person school would never be in question.  Now, in order to accomplish our mission, we may have to creatively find ways to reach our goals.  Presently we are ready for opening school with in school option.  We hope that through good community health practices and citizens working hard to prevent the community spread of the virus, we can safely do that!  As with all schools right now, we are planning for multiple and in some cases simultaneous methods of accomplishing our mission.  I don't pretend however to know the status of the world 30 days from now!!  I think our growth in enrollment (up 10% over last year and still growing) can be explained in part by our willingness to listen and work with families with the understanding that we are committed to make the best of this horrific health crisis

Why ignore the crisis??

When I read of parties in the Ozarks, on Long Island, or AirBNB house parties I shake my head with disbelief.  The spread continues and in some places it even worsens.  I have mentioned a wonderful podcast series called Cautionary Tales before.  This most recent season was 5 shorter shows concerning how the past can shed light on what is going on now in our pandemic.  The one about a nightclub fire in Beverly Hills helped me understand our strange response to this killer virus.  Click here to listen!

Something small...

The reading today from the Hebrew Scripture is one of my favorites.  It is the story of Elijah encountering God.  He was told to leave the cave he was in for shelter because the Lord will be passing by.  First there was a strong and heavy wind that was rending the mountains and crushing rocks...but the Lord was not in the wind.  Then an earthquake...but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  Then there was fire...but the Lord was not in the fire.  After all that, there was a tiny whispering sound and that was the

A tiny whispering sound...

Lord!  A tiny whispering sound after all those big and noisy events...the Lord was in the whisperings.  This is reminiscent of Adam and Eve hearing the rustling sound of footsteps in the garden.  Many stories by Jesus use small things that grow or have big effects:  yeast, salt, and mustard seeds to name a few.  So too am I called to leave the safety of the cave and listen for that tiny whispering sound amidst all the cacophony of our daily world.  Echoed even in today's Gospel the call from Jesus on the water, "take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."

We need your help in spreading the word!

Please consider subscribing to this blog and passing the link on to your friends.  If you wish, you can share other emails with me for people you think might be interested.  In the upcoming weeks we are going to have a digital "Launch Party" and I will give you that information and will really need you to pass that along to all your friends.  That's how small things grow!  I am also available for calls, tours of the school buildings, Zoom or in person (outside, socially distant) meetings.  My email is richard.clark@partnershipcle.org or mobile number is 216.409.7018.

We only have five loaves and two fish

Cleveland featured in Partnership Schools Blog!

The Ozannes!!

As we are busily working on Archbishop Lyke and St. Thomas to renew the physical structures, Ozanne Construction has been a local leader for us.  Here is the link to the story behind the man https://www.partnershipnyc.org/catholic-school-impact-one-cleveland-family/.

  This Thursday Partnership Schools Cleveland will be featured on Sound of Ideas!

I met with Mike McIntyre last week outside at some picnic tables at the Stinchcomb Monument in the Rocky River Reservation.  We talked for about and hour and a half and he said he definitely thought there was a story here!  We are working out the details, but we are tentatively scheduled to be on Sound of Ideas (aired between 9AM-10AM) on this Thursday, August 6, with Rick Jackson.  Please tune in and call in!!  Of course, the show will also be available in the archives.

Two mindsets:  Scarcity and Abundance

Yesterday's Gospel, commonly referred to as the "Feeding of the 5000,"  sends a strong message about how God works.  The disciples tell Jesus to send everybody home, we can't possibly feed them we only have 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish!  Jesus says matter of factly, bring me what you have.  They did, and the rest is the story of God's abundance!  Partnership Schools Cleveland is bringing to God what we have and are beginning ot reap God's abundance. 

The painting begins with twice as much paint as we could afford!  Ozanne Construction takes over the project and showers us with generous donations of time and materials!  We already experienced the abundance of God's help through raising $3.14M dollars in 4 months during a pandemic!  What more do we need to see to believe.  Today's reading has Peter asking Jesus to invite him to walk on the water.  Jesus' reply is quite simple: "Come!"  He does for few steps and then fear takes over and he begins to sink.  The constant message of the Gospel is proclaimed to Peter:  Do not fear!  Just have faith!  I am continually challenged by those words.  I pray that someday I can rid my self of fear and just have faith.  In the meantime, I am constantly reminded of God's abundance and thank God that he has so much patience with me.

What lessons are we learning?

School nurses, well lit and airy school buildings, school lunches are all lessons that were learned in 1918 from the pandemic that rocked the world then.  A recent PBS News Hour segment  looked back at the outcomes of the so-called Spanish Flu pandemic.  What are we learning from the COVID-19 pandemic with regards to schools? 

Children at home in 1918

Certainly the universal need for connectivity is becoming more and more apparent.  The importance of a strong sense of community, the need for families to have support, the increased need for after school programs and nutritional assistance as well as the central need for schools to educate are some of the ideas surfacing now.  We are in the middle of this now, but the challenge is to find solutions for the problems that are being brought to light by the disease.

Cautionary Tale Podcast 

Please subscribe and share!  Please contact me for further info or to talk more:  richard.clark@partnershipcle.org  or 216-409-7018