The education system in Northern Ireland was fascinating! Due to the social tensions from the last few decades, referred to as the Troubles, the schools in Northern Ireland created an opportunity for school age children to get together through a shared education program. The success of this program is based on several factors that were observed on our trip to several Northern Ireland cities. We observed that the relationships between all school stakeholders was a crucial component to the success of shared education. The shared resources were not necessarily the facilities and supplies used during shared education sessions.

The resources shared fell into several categories:

We are excited at the idea of bringing several of these shared resources to the Archdiocese of Los Angels to help our school to grow and attain greater success. The concepts that we believe are transferable to our schools in Los Angeles are:

• Benefits to ADLA schools:
  • Relationships are KEY!
  • Preloading with a strategic rollout
    • cultural awareness/appreciation
    • increased academic offerings
    • financial relief
    • access to best possible facilities
  • Feedback from all stakeholders that results in action that results
    • Teachers
    • Staff
    • Parents
    • Students
    • RE Student
    • RE Parents
    • Parishioners
    • Alumni
    • Alumni Parents

The next step for our schools is to move from survival mentality to a growth mentality. The Northern Ireland schools that participate in shared education have been able to be creative and try new ideas. The N.I. shared education schools have been succeeding at improving the academic and cultural education of their students. We can use their example to do the same.