St. Francis Xavier School community impresses evaluator

Courtesy photo/St. Francis Xavier Catholic School

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St. Francis Xavier Catholic School's community 'lives their faith every day,' said an accreditation team evaluator.

By Erika Manternach

KEARNS — In December, St. Francis Xavier Catholic School welcomed a Western Catholic Educational Association accreditation team to review the school’s self-study, goals and culture. The team will provide a specific rating in the spring, but determined that St. Francis Xavier met the requirements needed for continued accreditation. One evaluator was particularly moved by the community she witnessed during the three-day visit.

Karla Padilla, who works in Catholic education, contrasted the feeling at St. Francis Xavier with her own experience of coming to Utah from Honduras years ago at the age of 6. At her public school, she felt lonely, unsupported and torn between two cultures.

She also felt like she was a burden at school. “When you don’t feel like you fit in or are accepted into your own school by people in authority, it’s pretty crushing,” Padilla said.

She added that she had just the opposite feeling at St. Francis Xavier while observing classes, attending Mass and talking with parents, some of whom speak languages other than English. She sensed patience, love, acceptance and a genuine passion among all community members to lift students up, she said. She heard many parents say they “felt they were part of the team.”

“Everybody there lives the faith every day,” Padilla said. “The Holy Spirit was so strong at that Mass, with everybody taking an active role. It was evidence of how faith is the foundation for the school in every aspect. You always want people to have this feeling when they walk in of peace, love and unity, and I did feel that there.”

Padilla says that kind of atmosphere makes all children feel welcome, but particularly eases challenges faced by students trying to fit into a new community. “There’s a lot placed on an immigrant child and family that people probably don’t realize. Going back and forth between two cultures is big, and it’s hard,” Padilla said. “So when a school can help them navigate that, it’s so wonderful, and it really did touch my heart.”

Padilla knows from her own experience that building trust between school employees and parents cannot happen overnight. It develops gradually as teachers and staff continually invite parents into dialogue and activities, and it is proven with each action a staff member takes to honor and uplift a student. As an evaluator, Padilla says she was convinced that children at St. Francis Xavier are getting the love and acceptance they need.

“Teachers and staff [were] coming together to help children and families feel welcomed, accepted and loved, and educating them on how the school system works in order for their children to discover and develop their God-given talents,” she said.

Erika Manternach is an ad hoc St. Francis Xavier School Communications Committee Board member.