Credit: Marilyn Humphries

Jesuit Father John Wronski is in his fourth year as the executive director of Nativity Preparatory School in Boston, a tuition-free Jesuit middle school that serves low-income boys. He said the 20-year-old school “aims to give boys academic experience, discipline and focus; to support them to attend and succeed in good high schools and colleges, get good jobs and be able to bring something back to the community from which they came. It is an important part of the Jesuit tradition for boys to work toward the ideal of being ‘men for others.’”

Fr. Wronski noted that support for the students continues after graduation. “We follow our graduates through high school and into college to ensure that they are making smooth transitions into these new environments,” he said.

About 60 percent of the students are Catholic and 40 percent are a mix of other faith backgrounds. “At Nativity, every class is named for a well-known Jesuit.  These namesakes are or were missionaries, poets, scientists — the way we experience God is that God is integrated in all things,” said Wronski. “Being religious for Jesuits is not about withdrawing from the world but engaging in it.”

For the full interview with Wronski, visit Jamaica Plain Patch News.

Credit: Marilyn Humphries

Jesuit Father John Wronski is in his fourth year as the executive director of Nativity Preparatory School in Boston, a tuition-free Jesuit middle school that serves low-income boys. He said the 20-year-old school “aims to give boys academic experience, discipline and focus; to support them to attend and succeed in good high schools and colleges, get good jobs and be able to bring something back to the community from which they came. It is an important part of the Jesuit tradition for boys to work toward the ideal of being ‘men for others.’”

Fr. Wronski noted that support for the students continues after graduation. “We follow our graduates through high school and into college to ensure that they are making smooth transitions into these new environments,” he said.

About 60 percent of the students are Catholic and 40 percent are a mix of other faith backgrounds. “At Nativity, every class is named for a well-known Jesuit.  These namesakes are or were missionaries, poets, scientists — the way we experience God is that God is integrated in all things,” said Wronski. “Being religious for Jesuits is not about withdrawing from the world but engaging in it.”

For the full interview with Wronski, visit Jamaica Plain Patch News.

Fr. Flaherty will succeed Greg Meuler at the end of the school year.

The boy’s school, which serves primarily Hispanics, has an intensive academic program, including an extended school day, required after-school activities and mandatory study hall.

Flaherty is bilingual and worked with Latino communities in Milwaukee, as well as Berkeley, Calif., and Nogales, Mexico, where the Jesuits have a mission.

Most recently Flaherty served as rector of the Marquette Jesuit community and an adjunct professor of philosophy at Marquette. He was also associate director of campus ministry at Marquette.

“The success Nativity Jesuit Middle School has had in providing both an excellent academic background and strong character formation to its students is truly a model for urban education,” Flaherty said. “It’s also in keeping with the Jesuit traditions of excellence in education and service to the poor. I am humbled to be called to this position.”

Jesuit Father Jeff McDougall is principal of St. Andrew Nativity School in Portland, Oregon, which educates 60 middle school students, all from at-risk families with minimal income.

Members of St. Andrew Parish and the Jesuits began the school ten years ago to provide a Catholic education for at-risk children. Parents pay just $25 a term, and the students benefit from small classes and long hours.

Fr. McDougall employs proactive discipline, so students hear what is expected of them from the start. They are to be open to growth, intellectually competent, grateful, religious, loving and committed to justice.

“What we always tell them here is, ‘Keep trying,’” McDougall said.

Read more about this Nativity school sponsored by the Oregon Province at the Catholic Sentinel.