By Chris Fisher
This article was originally published in the 2026 Catholic Schools Week issue of Catholic San Francisco magazine.
This past year as superintendent has been, above all, a year of encounter. I have continued visiting our schools across San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties: praying alongside students, visiting classrooms, speaking with teachers, principals, pastors and parents, and joining communities in moments both ordinary and extraordinary—from centenaries and feast days and from the church choir to the athletic fields.
Our scriptural theme this year, drawn from St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians—“Christ is all and in all”—is a lens through which I am privileged to experience these encounters. Christ is not an added element to our schools; He is their animating center. He is present in the prayerful stillness before a school Mass begins, in the disciplined joy of a well-ordered classroom, in the quiet courage of a teacher persevering with a struggling student, and in the generosity of families who sacrifice to give their children a Catholic education. It is easy to see why, in the Vatican’s statement “The Catholic School on the Threshold of the New Millennium,” the Church proclaimed that “Catholic schools are at the heart of the Church.”
Lessons from the Road
One of the great privileges of this year has been the ability to practice what I like to call the ministry of presence– of being present in our schools and with the people who make them thrive. From these visits, several lessons have emerged with clarity.
First, Catholic schools are profoundly local. Each school reflects the particular history, charisms and needs of its community. It has been a joy to get to know each school and to hear the enthusiasm, pride and gratitude that every member of the communities feels for his or her own school. And yet, across all of our schools, there is a shared grammar: prayer, study, mercy, charity, sacrifice and hope. I encountered educators who understood their work as a vocation, not merely a profession, and witnessed students participate in the “ever ancient, ever new” mission of the Church.
Second, I have seen again and again how creativity emerges in the balance between tradition and innovation. While pursuing continuous improvement in pedagogy, technology and safety, to name a few areas, our schools are at the same time deeply rooted in clarity of mission, intellectual seriousness and the familiar rituals of Catholic school life. When Christ is truly “all and in all,” coherence follows—in curriculum, culture and community.
Third, joy is a reliable sign of health. I have been struck repeatedly by the joy of our students–joy in learning, joy in friendship, joy in worship. To hear children sing at Mass, to watch them debate a text or solve a problem together, to see them take pride in serving others–these are signs that something essential is being done well.
Celebrations Worth Naming
In this issue, we are thrilled to highlight several exciting developments in Catholic education in the universal Church, and here at home.
Later in this issue, I have the chance to reflect on the relationship between two momentous occasions for the Church—first, the new apostolic letter issued by Pope Leo XIV, “Drawing New Maps of Hope,” and his simultaneous elevation of St. John Henry Newman to doctor of the Church and co-patron of Catholic education. In both of these acts, the Holy Father provides us a roadmap of Catholic educational renewal.
We also have the opportunity to celebrate the magnificent achievement of the students and teachers at Ecole Notre Dame des Victoires, which was recognized as a 2025 Blue Ribbon school—a remarkable and singular achievement reflecting the dedication of the school community to the love of learning.
And finally, we introduce you to the St. Thomas More Fellows, an initiative of the Department of Catholic Schools to recruit teachers to the archdiocese, helping to solve the teacher shortage and provide a community of formation for new teachers.
It has been an exciting and joy-filled year and half. And it has been a beautiful reminder that Catholic education exists at the very heart of the Church—helping young people come to know who they are, why they are here and what God has called them to become. Our schools proclaim that truth sets us free, that goodness is worth pursuing and that beauty can still captivate the heart. As we continue this work together, my prayer is that we continue to share with our students and families an encounter with the source of our unity and our hope: Christ who is all and is in all.
Chris Fisher is the superintendent of the Department of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
Photo: John Bartolome
