Identifying and maintaining religious heritage amidst conflict and diminishing religious presence in a Catholic high school

Catholic schools have long enjoyed a reputation for providing an exceptional education that combines academic rigor with attention to moral development. In the past 40 years, declines in vocations and demographic shifts have impacted both the identity and enrollment of Catholic schools. In addition, the evolution of the modern American Catholic combined with well-publicized Church scandals has contributed to an uncertain future for the identity of Catholic schools. Archmere Academy, an independent Catholic high school founded by the Norbertine Order of Priests in Claymont, DE has experienced many of the factors that have both positively and negatively impacted Catholic education. By surveying nearly 1,000 members of the school community (alumni, students and faculty) and by interviewing a diverse group of alumni and faculty, this dissertation explores: (1) The history of the Norbertine association with Archmere Academy and the early factors contributing to the school\u27s religious identity; (2) How, when and why the relationship between the school and the order soured and its effect on the Norbertine image at the school; (3) The steps the school has taken, and might still take, to repair, reassert or reinvent the Norbertine tradition amidst diminishing numbers of priests. These areas are addressed within the larger backdrop of modern American Catholicism, Catholic schooling in the U.S. and related concerns including governance, religious orders, Catholic priesthood, lay persons in Catholic schools and the maintenance of mission and heritage. The study determined that, despite the recent attempt on the part of the school leadership to reassert the school\u27s Norbertine heritage, the school community, while revealing a general fondness and appreciation for this religious tradition, largely does not have a clear understanding of its definition. The study also found that the school community is primarily concerned with the school as an academic learning institution. This study addresses this tension and offers suggestions of how religious or mission-driven schools might more clearly articulate their traditions and more concretely transmit them to the school community