We are blessed by our Brothers and Sisters

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 Brothers, Aspirants, Sisters 

Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, the founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, was driven by his desire to help boys get an education over 300 years ago.

Fast forward to the 1960s, the Christian Brothers gathered to discuss their roles and produced the influential document, The Brothers of the Christian Schools in the World Today: A Declaration (Declaration). The Declaration reaffirmed the Founder’s original acclamation of the Brothers as missionaries dedicated to help those in need, but also redirected the Brothers to become better prepared for addressing the social problems facing modern youth.

In this plan (Declaration 1967 48:6) he expected the schools “to be like families” to young men. Since the Brothers assumed responsibility for the students throughout the day, De La Salle envisioned a fraternal relationship between teacher and student. He wanted the Brothers to immerse themselves in the lives of the boys, sharing their interests, their concerns, and their aspirations. Ideally, he would become an “older brother, “ helping them to find their way in the world (Declaration 40:4).

In 1900 there were 14,000 Brothers - today, there are 3,000 who help in over 1,100 education centers in 80 countries with more than a million students.

Because of the declining number of Brothers, it is rare to find more than one or two brothers assigned to teach at any of the Various Christian Brothers' schools.

We, here at San Miguel High School, are blessed to have three Brothers living in community and working full-time, in addition to an Aspirant and volunteers.


These men provide a high quality education but also transmit to our students a strong sense of Catholic virtues, including a commitment toward social justice, a desire to sustain a sense of community (Declaration, 1967) and a realization of the importance of giving back to society, (Declaration, USCCB, 1998).


Sisters


We are blessed to have the presence of Sisters at San Miguel High School.

The historic and active San Xavier Mission is a quick 10 minute drive from San Miguel High School. Over the years, Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity will often send Sisters there for their mission work.

When the school was initially planned, two Sisters helped with the initial clean up of the land, and participated in the groundbreaking, after it was purchased for the construction of San Miguel High School.

Today we are blessed to have Sister Mary Ann Spanjers, a Franciscan Sister, share her talents with our students in many capacities.