MISSION OF
ROSELLE CATHOLIC
OUR MISSION
The Roselle Catholic Mission is to ensure that all our students embrace a commitment to fully develop their intellectual, physical, moral and spiritual potential through the guidance and direction of talented and dedicated educators. Seeking to instill in our students the mastery of skills and knowledge they will need in a complex world, we empower them to be successful, responsible and ethical citizens.
Dedication to our mission generates the Roselle Catholic spirit, which can be felt throughout our hallways, within our classrooms, in the cafeteria, in the gym, out on the fields, and just about everywhere else.
There is a true sense of pride that comes with being a part of the Roselle Catholic community, a community born of a welcoming and nurturing environment, where it’s easy and comfortable to fit in and succeed.
Most importantly, that Roselle Catholic spirit generates what Theologian Marcus Borg calls "a thin spot," one of the places in our lives where, one way or another, this world and the divine world somehow intersect. Most of us who have gone through this place have a sense that in some way, God reached out and touched us here - perhaps not dramatically so, but effectively so nonetheless. It's often said that God usually touches us through other people, and He has touched many of us through our time in the community here at Roselle Catholic.
THE MARIST MISSION
Roselle Catholic embraces the Marist mission. That mission has its origins in the work of St. Marcellin Champagnat, a priest in rural France, who, in 1817, founded a band of teaching "brothers," now known as the Marist Brothers. St. Marcellin urged those first of his followers "to make Jesus known and loved" by all children, but especially those children most ignored by the society around them. His "little brothers" did so by establishing schools whereby those children could be made more aware both of the workings of their world and God's generosity in bringing that world about.
That was almost two hundred years ago. The Marist Brothers continue St. Marcellin's work to this day, numbering about five thousand Brothers spread across the globe. They have been active in the United States for the past one hundred twenty-five years, from Massachusetts to Texas, via Chicago. They have been particularly active in the New York metropolitan area, establishing some schools of their own and co-operating with local dioceses in establishing others.
In 1959, the Archdiocese of Newark established Roselle Catholic High School and asked the Marist Brothers to help. Since the school's founding, dozens of Brothers have worked here, in every imaginable capacity, and with incredible dedication.
And so Roselle Catholic is a school in the Marist tradition. We are formally affiliated with the Brothers, some of whom have served, and others continue to serve, on our School Board. Brothers continue to live and work here. Our administrators belong to the Marist Schools Leadership Institute, whereby they exchange best practices with Marist educators from around the country. Our faculty and students regularly use the Brothers' retreat facility, a beautiful, restful spot in Esopus, New York, on the shores of the Hudson River. But most importantly, the spirt of St. Marcellin continues to inform daily life around here; in his words, we "lead youth to Jesus," by "first loving them, and loving them equally."