By Jay Sorgi • Posted January 27, 2025

They were Catholic school students growing up, then educators teaching the Catholic faith and modeling the Gospel call to discipleship.

Now, Brian King and Maddie McGonigle are leading teams of Catholic educators, staff and hundreds of students in that mission celebrated each year during Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 26-Feb. 1.

King is president of Father Judge High School and McGonigle principal of Christ the King School, both located in Northeast Philadelphia. They represent all the secondary, elementary and special education schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia celebrating the week’s theme of “United in Faith and Community.”

Catholic schools are marking the week with more than a dozen events in each of the region’s five counties – see a complete list of upcoming activities here.

“I’m a product of it myself, right?” said King, a Father Judge alumnus in his ninth year as president at the high school. “I’ve been on both sides, sat in those seats, and now I get to celebrate what goes on with the students, faculty, and dedicated staff that are here.”

“Catholic Schools Week is more than just the fun things, the celebrating, the dress down days” said McGonigle, in her first year leading the staff and students at Christ the King.

In her view, the week is “a way for the community to come together and to celebrate its way of being uniquely Catholic,” she said. “I think Catholic schools, in and of (themselves), have a very special mission, and that is to educate our students in the way of Jesus Christ.”

McGonigle and King stand among thousands of educators in the Philadelphia area Catholic schools whose charge is to live out that calling and lead others to it.

“You are critical to our mission of forming young men and women of character as missionary disciples for Christ in the world around them,” said Archbishop Nelson Pérez in his Catholic Schools Week video message. “It can’t be done without your hard work and dedication.”

“I’m also deeply grateful to our school families for choosing the incredible gift of a Catholic education,” added Andrew McLaughlin, secretary for elementary education. “I’m proud to share that our students continue to excel in the classroom. This past fall, 71 schools were recognized with the 2024 Archdiocesan Schools of Distinguished Instruction award.”

Catholic Schools Week is a nationwide celebration intended to showcase and emphasize the meaning behind the mission of Catholic education.

In a message for the week, Secondary Schools Superintendent Bill Brannick encouraged Catholic school teachers and staff to reflect on “why you said yes to Catholic education and to recognize that you are a critical, valued and important member of our school community, today, tomorrow and well into the future,” he said.

The answers to Brannick’s “why” question drive Catholic school teachers to help their students achieve more than academic success, but to grow toward their full potential.

King points to a quote of St. Francis de Sales, “Be who you are and be that well,” that students can find painted and written throughout Father Judge High School.

“That idea that every kid is different, and we are trying to find pathways and opportunities to really let them fulfill that mission (to) find their God-given talents, bloom where they’re planted and be the best versions of themselves … each and every day, to be you and be a little bit better version of you,” King said. “Think about what you did wrong, and I think about what you did right. Sleep on it. Let’s go at it again tomorrow.”

“It’s embedded in everything that we do. It’s embedded in every piece of curriculum,” said McGonigle.

“You can embed Jesus’ teachings into everything, into math and to ELA (English Language Arts) and to science and social studies,” she said. “It’s also just embedded in the way that we act toward one another and the words that we speak to one another, and the things that we expect of our students and staff. It’s just ingrained in us, and it starts early, and it really just grows with us.”

Both leaders explained the task of integrating Christ into the classroom goes  beyond the classroom walls and into the home and the wider community, from the Kairos retreat to the works of service.

“In our role, it’s also the parents’ role, and so we work alongside the parents as well to continue to educate children and in Jesus’ teachings,” said McGonigle. “We can’t do it alone, and we have so many other people that are there to help walk alongside us.”

“People don’t understand how many hands there are in Catholic schools,” King said.

“How many parents are part of the network between sports and clubs and activity in the theater program, and the parents helping with the football team meals, and (getting) ready for the theater (to) volunteer? You know that the faculty and the staff (are there), but there is a genuine family fabric in these schools.”