6. In schools (§.126-166)

126. A Marist school is a centre of learning, of life, and of evangelising. As a school, it leads students "to learn to know, to be competent, to live together, and most especially, to grow as persons". ¹ As a Catholic school, it is a community setting in which faith, hope and love are lived and communicated, and in which students are progressively initiated into their life-long challenge of harmonising faith, culture and life. ² As a Catholic school in the Marist tradition, it adopts Marcellin’s approach to educating children and youth, in the way of Mary.

127. The circumstances and profiles of Marist schools around the world vary greatly, depending on their social, cultural, political and legal settings. They are to be found in the rural world as well as in urban areas. They include all three levels of education: primary, secondary, higher education and teacher training. There are day schools as well as those that offer boarding. They may belong wholly to the Institute, or be conducted by Provinces on behalf of a diocese, parish, or government.

128. In all our settings, we express our sense of shared mission in the way we come together as a single community of educators: the teachers, non-teaching staff, and parents, ³ supporting one another in our complementary roles. Together, we seek to develop a pattern of relationships which reflect our Gospel and Marist ideals, and which witness to the values we want to pass on to our students.

129. Together, we develop a statement of mission and guiding values, based on our broad vision of Marist education, as presented earlier in this document. ⁴ Such a statement makes explicit our identity, our ideal of education, the particular character of our school in its local context, and our priorities. It serves as a source of inspiration and a reference point for planning, programme development, and for the evaluation of school structures and activities. ⁵