Home  >Prospective Parents/Students  >Characteristics of a Marianist Education

School-wide Learning Expectations (pdf)
 High School Graduation Outcomes (pdf)

"I am Like a Brook"

I am like a brook that makes no effort to overcome obstacles in its way. All the obstacles can do is hold me up for a while, as a brook is held up; but during that time it grows broader and deeper and after a while it overflows the obstruction and flows along again. This is how I am going to work.

-Blessed William Joseph Chaminade
1761-1850, Founder of the Marianists

Chaminade College Preparatory is one of more than 25 schools in the United States that is guided by the Marianist spirituality that emanates from the foundational charism of Society of Mary founder, William Joseph Chaminade.

A recent national survey reveals that more than 90 percent of Catholic school teachers are lay men and women. The percentage at Chaminade reflects this trend as the number of Marianists is simply unable to keep pace with the growing number of students seeking a Catholic education.

To maintain the Marian spirituality and keep the tradition alive, our administration and particularly the faculty, have been entrusted to embrace a style of teaching as ministry. Each employee is part of the team at Chaminade who is committed to our own school mission and that of the Marianists.

In 1991, the General Chapter of the Society of Mary called for a contemporary articulation of the common elements of the Marianist Educational tradition. Through serious research, consultation and discussion involving lay and religious educators who work in Marianist educational institutions throughout the world, the following five characteristics were enumerated and best describe the vision.

With the need for updated and expanded facilities, another search was launched and the San Fernando Valley was a logical choice given the direction of development that was taking place in Southern California. 

The Marianists again took tools to hand and literally built the new high school from the ground up. Our continued building and development is part and parcel of the Chaminade story. At the core however, the Marianists and our mission guide us "...to form morally aware and academically capable people to be outstanding contributors to the future."

Educate for Formation in Faith

1. Bear witness with a personal and committed faith that touches the heart.
2. Promote a faith-and-culture dialogue which illuminates reality from the perspective of the gospel.
3. Form students in the gospel’s values and Christian attitudes.
4. Educate in a free and responsible style which elicits a personal response of faith.
5. Bear witness with a faithful commitment to the Church that makes the gospel credible today and tomorrow.
6. Make present the example and influence of Mary as the first disciple and as an educator in faith.

Provide an Integral, Quality Education

1. Promote quality education of the whole person.
2. Provide coherent curricula; a well-formed, professional. administration, faculty, and staff, and adequate facilities and finances.
3. Develop respect for the dignity of the person as a daughter or son of God, unique and individual.
4. Develop an interior spirit and self-knowledge.
5. Develop a concern for global and local issues of culture, ecology, and the use of technology.
6. Foster a diverse faculty and staff as well as a diverse student body.
7. Offer Mary as a mode of integrity in relation to the realities of the world.

Educate in the Family Spirit

1. Create a favorable environment for education.
2. Cultivate interpersonal relationships characterized by openness, respect, integrity, and dialogue.
3. Form an educational community with collaborative structures and processes.
4. Express our authority as a loving and dedicated service.
5. Influence others by exhibiting the Marian traits of openness, hospitality, graciousness, and faith.

Educate for Service, Justice and Peace

1. Promote a missionary spirit for the reign of God.
2. Educate for solidarity as well as justice and peace.
3. Attend to the poor and marginalized.
4. Promote the dignity and rights of women.
5. Promote programs of service, encouraging the formation of Christian service groups.
6. Under the prophetic influence of Mary, announce the goodness and justice of God, and denounce oppression.

Educate for Adaptation and Change

1. Educate to shape the future.
2. Educate persons to accept and respect differences in a pluralistic society.
3. Develop critical thinking skills in the search for truths.
4. Be open and adapt to local and global context through enculturation and interdisciplinary education.
5. "Do whatever he tells you." Be available and respond to the signs of the times in faith.