07/01/2026
By Dr. Christopher Bott
Superintendent of Schools
As I watched our senior students walk across the stage to receive their diplomas at graduation this year, I marveled at the way young people are able to embrace new thresholds and adapt to change with such enthusiasm and grace. If there’s one thing we can count on in life, it’s change, and, although it can be challenging at times, it is often in times of change that we grow into a fuller version of who God created us to be. As our new graduates prepare to step into their next chapters — whether that’s college or the work force or the military — they remind us that our hopes and dreams often lie on the other side of challenge and change.
For many of them, that change may come in the form of leaving family and the familiarity of home for new cities and towns. No small thing. Even here in our Diocese, change that leads to growth often requires leaving something familiar behind. Growth isn’t always easy, but it is often necessary and, in the end, fulfilling and life-giving.
Bishop Mark O’Connell has led by example when it has come to embracing change. He has demonstrated what it looks like to take on a new role, a new home, a new challenge with joy, energy and trust in God. As he has made his way around the Diocese visiting our schools, we have been blessed by his deep faith, his humor and his love. Whether he is celebrating Mass, racing students across a gym or dancing alongside them in a classroom, he has given our students and our schools a jolt of Spirit-infused happiness that has gone a long way toward showing all of us what being a disciple of Jesus looks like if we open our hearts to what God is calling us to do.
In addition, we have had the opportunity to celebrate school and staff successes around the Diocese this year: St. Pius X School in Loudonville being named a Council for American Education Blue Ribbon School and taking first place in the Times Union Best Private School category; Kelly Sloan, principal of St. Madeleine Sophie School in Schenectady, being named Capital Area School Development Association (CASDA) Principal of the Year; and Holy Spirit School in East Greenbush receiving the Fordham University Executive Leadership Award for Excellence in STREAM Education. While those honors stand out for their regional and national recognition, all of our Catholic schools have achieved exemplary things as they educate students’ body, mind and spirit.
When the school year began, I suggested we focus on the theme “Rooted in Faith, Growing in Hope.” That theme seems more fitting than ever as we watch another year come to a close and prepare for new chapters, new challenges and new achievements in the year to come.
Pope Leo XIV, when speaking to young people in Spain recently, said: “You can change history — do it with love.” Our Catholic schools are dedicated to educating and nurturing students who will go on to change history with love, and we thank all of you for making that possible. Together let us remain rooted in the faith that sustains us as we grow in hope for the unfolding of God’s plan in the lives of our students, our Diocese and our world.
Read it on our website: https://www.higherpoweredlearning.org/news/Change-history-with-love_1182-news.htm
