The Celebration of Mass, presided over by Fr. Mike Regent, Resident Chaplain of Hackett Catholic Central High School with LMC staff members David Houseal, Frank Deja and Gerald Heath acting as servers, set the tone, appropriately, for a day-long in-service that focused upon building communities. 

Professional Learning Communities (PLC) is a concept that is being adopted in Catholic schools throughout the Diocese of Kalamazoo.  In addition to being designed to enhance curriculum and the means that our Catholic educators use to instruct Michigan’s curriculum benchmarks and standards, PLCs create an embedded structure within each school that standardizes communication among same grade level and multi-grade level instructors, improves evaluation of methods and achievement, and aids the precise identification and timely intervention for students who may be struggling. 

While the morning was dedicated to working within each school, the afternoon session allowed grade-level, subject and specialty teachers from throughout the Diocese to establish PLCs that extend beyond each school or individual parish school system.  The increased focus upon collaboration at all levels will engender greater student achievement throughout Lake Michigan Catholic and all the schools of the Diocese of Kalamazoo.