There is a special energy that returns to Carrollton & Banks as familiar faces reconnect, new colleagues are welcomed, and classrooms and hallways begin to come alive again. This week, faculty and staff returned to campus with gratitude for the summer behind them and a shared sense of excitement for the year ahead. They are ready to prepare, pray, learn together, and welcome students back to a place shaped in so many ways by the educators who serve here.

For 179 years, Jesuit has relied on a world-class faculty to realize its mission. The expertise, passion, and dedication of its teachers, coaches, administrators, and staff members keep the educational program in a class of its own. The men and women on Carrollton & Banks uphold the school’s uncommon commitment to rigor and high expectations, contributing broadly to students’ formation into men of faith and men for others in the classroom and through co-curricular, athletic, artistic, and spiritual life.

Their return has included several days of professional development, breakout sessions, speakers, prayer, and the practical preparations necessary for another school year. Fr. Anthony McGinn, S.J. ’66, reflected on the centennial of the Carrollton & Banks campus while reminding faculty of qualities that have long distinguished the school: high expectations, high support, and a strong sense of camaraderie. Looking back across generations of educators, he also expressed gratitude for those who have carried the mission forward like and helped establish that enduring culture such as Henry Prevost, Class of 1873, Gernon Brown, Class of 1920, and Fr. Claude Stallworth, S.J.

Visiting speaker Cristiano Casalini of Boston College placed that work within the much longer tradition of Jesuit education. His presentation explored how the mission extends well beyond a curriculum or method. Co-curricular life carries the mission, he explained, but so too does the educator. Teachers, counselors, coaches, and school leaders help bring that mission to life through their example and their personal investment in students. Drawing on the earliest traditions of Jesuit pedagogy, Casalini emphasized that expertise alone has never been enough. Educators are called to bring enthusiasm, integrity, care, and availability to their students, while knowing them personally and taking a genuine interest in their growth.

That sense of vocation was also at the heart of the all-faculty Mass. In the homily, Fr. Roy Joseph, S.J., encouraged teachers and staff to remember the “mountaintop” experiences that first inspired their own passion as educators, including those classroom moments when a student suddenly understands, grows, or sees something in a new way. They were also urged to create opportunities for their students to experience those moments for themselves and to help young men recognize the meaning in what happens each day, whether in classrooms, on fields and stages, in courtyards, or throughout campus life.

The days together have also included opportunities for daily Mass, departmental and procedural meetings, scheduling, and time to prepare classrooms and programs for the arrival of students.

For many Blue Jay educators, preparation for this year began long before their return to campus. Throughout the summer, faculty and staff gave generously of their time as chaperones for student experiences, participated in educator seminars and conferences across the country, pursued professional development, and continued sharpening their craft. Several of those summer experiences even became part of the faculty’s own breakout sessions, allowing colleagues to bring what they learned elsewhere back to the community.

As students prepare to return, there is much for which to be grateful and much to anticipate. Across generations, buildings, curricula, and methods may change, but the heart of a Jesuit education remains remarkably constant: exceptional teachers who expect much, support generously, care deeply, and understand their work as more than a profession.