Principal's Philosophy

I believe that there are four critical areas that students need to develop in order to become balanced students and better prepared for life’s challenges.  Schools are often thought of as focusing mostly on cognition and knowledge, but the affective, physiological and in particular, the spiritual needs of the student are often overlooked.  At Thomas More Prep-Marian High School, parents should take great comfort in the fact that the entire well-being of their children is our primary focus and for that reason, we ensure that the whole student is being educated.

Our challenging and demanding curriculum allows students to develop the cognitive and critical thinking skills that are necessary in order to be successful in today’s society.  Technology is so readily available that the answer to any question can be found with lightning speed.  Knowing this, it is important that we challenge our students to think, and think critically; not just to retain and regurgitate knowledge, but use their knowledge to make meaningful evaluations of themselves and the society in which they live. 

However, all the knowledge in the world won’t do a student any good if he or she is not emotionally grounded.  Knowing this, our staff is dedicated to serving the affective and emotional needs of each of our students.  We genuinely care about each and every student.  As a Christian school we adhere to Christ’s message of healing.  We know that students will make mistakes, we know that students are not as kind to one another as they should be, but we know as a staff that we have a responsibility to create a safe and comfortable environment where students can learn, grow, and repent from their mistakes.  We encourage communication between students and we provide class retreats so that students can learn to understand one another and be willing to support one another through the highs and lows of adolescent development. 

The physical well-being is an important component of the development of the student as well.  Sloth is evil.  It is important for students to involve themselves in activities that allow them to stay physically healthy.  For this reason, we offer a wide array of activities and athletics that allow our students ample opportunity to develop their physical well-being. 

Finally, the most important component to a student’s development is their spiritual well-being.  We encourage prayer and we provide daily opportunities for students to develop their relationship with God.  Eventually, our students graduate from our school and move out of our homes.  We can give them all of the tools and knowledge to become successful people in the world, but their success will ultimately depend upon their relationship with God.  It is God who grounds us and allows us to succeed.  A healthy mind and body are useless without a healthy spirit.  However, when our students can wrap a strong mind, a strong body and a caring affective state within a healthy spiritual relationship with God, our students cannot and will not fail.