A delegation from St. Joseph’s Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre in Port Talbot, Wales, recently visited several high schools within the Archdiocese of New York to explore Catholic education in the United States. Click here to view the full press release.
As part of their visit, students from St. Joseph’s toured Cardinal Spellman High School. At the same time, school administrators visited Loyola School in Manhattan, Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, and Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains. Over a year in the making, the visit originated from an inquiry by Archbishop Mark O’Toole of the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia, Wales, to His Eminence, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York.
James Torrance, Assistant Headteacher at St. Joseph’s, described the experience as transformative. “We learned so much about the general approaches to education in the United States, particularly faith-based education within the Catholic sector,” Torrance said. “Seeing
how confident, well-spoken, and articulate the students were in these schools—when talking about their learning, faith, and future plans and aspirations—really gave us food for thought for how we can develop approaches with our students back here.”
Sr. Mary Grace Walsh, ASCJ, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of New York, welcomed the delegation and emphasized the importance of international collaboration in Catholic education. “The visit from St. Joseph’s highlights the global nature of Catholic education and the shared mission of forming young people in faith and academic excellence,”
Sr. Mary Grace said. “We were honored to host them and hope this exchange fosters continued dialogue between our schools.”
The visit aimed to strengthen ties between Catholic schools in Wales and the United States, encouraging best practices in faith formation and academic excellence. Administrators from
St. Joseph’s are now considering how to incorporate the insights gained from the trip into their own educational framework.
Header Image: Representatives from Cardinal Spellman High School (Bronx), St. Joseph’s Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre (Port Talbot, Wales), and the Archdiocese of New York’s Superintendent of Schools Office gather for a group photo.
Photo Gallery:
Above: Students from Cardinal Spellman High School (Bronx) give a tour to visiting students and faculty from St. Joseph’s Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre in Port Talbot, Wales.
Above: Leadership from St. Joseph’s Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre (Port Talbot, Wales) meet with Cardinal Hayes High School (Bronx) students and faculty.
Above: Leadership from St. Joseph’s Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre (Port Talbot, Wales) meet with Mr. James DeAngelo, Principal of Loyola School in Manhattan.
Above: Archbishop Stepinac High School (White Plains) students share insights about their daily school life with the leadership of St. Joseph’s Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre (Port Talbot, Wales).