Carroll quickly identified this pattern when he started his role as Boston’s superintendent. However, prior to addressing the issue, he aimed to grasp the reasons why parents opted to enroll their kids in Catholic schools.

“Many individuals choose to send their children to Catholic institutions to ensure they remain Catholic and to help their kids develop in their faith and in moral character,” Carroll stated. “This is a significant commitment we uphold to parents.”

In Boston, Carroll began the process of reorganizing the archdiocesan educational system. His main approach involved appointing new principals for a number of schools and establishing the St. Thomas More Teaching Fellows, a program for post-graduates that assigns college alumni to nearby Catholic educational institutions.

“Regardless of their field of study during college, anyone has the chance to become a St. Thomas More Fellow,” Carroll clarified. “The one aspect we will not compromise on is that we exclusively employ individuals who fully align with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

The establishment of the St. Thomas More Teaching Fellows offered Carroll a means to tackle another challenge faced by Catholic schools: the increasing presence of women within the education system.

Carroll pointed out that since the 1970s, women have constituted the predominant portion of faculty at Catholic institutions. He argues that this poses an issue because children, particularly young boys, are frequently more motivated to practice the Faith when they observe strong, devoted men in the role of their educators.

“We needed to tackle the feminization of the Church, meaning that there are almost no male educators from preschool through eighth grade in Catholic schools, except perhaps the gym instructor and the janitor,” Carroll stated. “The beliefs of these young boys are significantly shaped by the faith of an important male figure in their life, ideally their father; however, if that is not the case, then a mentor.”

“We require the type of individuals, individuals as educators, who these young males find intriguing.”

Thus, Carroll aims to guarantee that every fellowship cohort consists of 50% males and 50% females.

Shaping a school’s identity

Throughout his time in Boston, Carroll started to witness the benefits of both the fellowship and the recruitment of fresh school leadership. He noted that it has assisted not only the children but whole families in their journey of Faith.

“Because we are specifically recruiting individuals with a missionary passion and those eager to assist children in strengthening their faith, we’re witnessing this unfold,” Carroll stated. “We also observe that when the children embrace the Faith more profoundly and begin requesting their parents to take them to church on Sundays if the parents have drifted away from the routine, it consequently results in the return of some Catholics to a more profound faith.”

Three years prior, Suzanne Banach, the principal of St. Mary of the Hill’s elementary school in Milton, Massachusetts, brought on board her inaugural St. Thomas More Teaching Fellow. Since that time, she has employed three additional fellows.

“Three years prior, I had recently experienced the loss of my science teacher just days before the school year began, and Thomas Carroll offered me a spot in the St. Thomas More Fellows program,” Banach told Our Sunday Visitor. “The next year, I introduced additional St. Thomas More fellows. Now, this year, I have four at my institution due to the significant impact they have made on the community.”

Banach has observed a significant transformation at her school since the fellows program started, particularly after she started focusing on faculty development at Carroll’s recommendation. She mentioned that several students have embraced the faith, and numerous are pursuing their prayer lives with greater seriousness.

“What I observe taking place is that, above all, we have a more profound Catholic identity here,” Banach remarked. “As an instructional team, we will serve as witnesses, and we are nurturing within our students, such as encouraging them to understand Christ, allowing them to open their hearts to Christ, and recognizing God’s love for each other and for themselves.”

She holds the view that the Thomas Fellows have been instrumental in this change.

“The Fellows are profoundly dedicated, and they sense a vocation to our institution. This is more than merely employment, and they are definitely not motivated by the salary,” Banach stated. “They perceived it as a divine calling to join the school. They embody an evangelistic spirit and genuinely believe they are meant to serve these students.”

The Catholic Skills Initiative

There remains effort to accomplish in Boston, given that it’s a vast educational system. Carroll, nonetheless, recognizes the advancements his team has achieved and is convinced that if his approach can succeed in Boston, it can succeed anywhere.

“There is a significant amount of work to be done. I’m not suggesting that all issues have been resolved in Boston, but I believe we’ve made progress, which is noteworthy in a highly secular region of the country and while operating within a large school system,” Carroll stated. “It’s going to be a lengthy process to bring about change, but if we can achieve it in Boston, we can replicate that success anywhere.”

That is precisely what Carroll aims to achieve with the Catholic Talent Project. Initiated this summer, Carroll anticipates that the Catholic Talent Project will assist dioceses nationwide in reshaping their educational frameworks to highlight evangelization and faith formation.

“Pope Paul VI famously stated that contemporary individuals are more inclined to pay attention to witnesses than to educators; and if they do heed educators, it’s due to them being witnesses,” Carroll remarked. “Thus, the fundamental goal of the Catholic Talent Project is to seek dedicated Catholic witnesses to serve in Catholic schools at all tiers, beginning with classroom instructors.”

Carroll aspires to collaborate with two additional dioceses each year and gradually extend its reach nationwide. The next destination for the Catholic Talent Project will be the Archdiocese of San Francisco, where Carroll has initiated efforts to establish St. Thomas More Fellows and engage with school leadership to foster a focus on evangelization in schools.

“Our upcoming destination is San Francisco; we are deliberately avoiding the simpler locations to establish dynamic school systems. They do not require our assistance. San Francisco and Boston do,” Carroll stated. “If we are successful in Boston and San Francisco, it will convey a message that if you can transform the schools in these particularly challenging areas, you truly can change the trajectory of Catholic schools nationwide.”