Firstly, Jesuit Education trains students to appreciate the world in which they live. It leads them to develop their gifts as much as possible, so that they will be forces for good in the world. This is done by protecting what God has made, and by adding to what is good in it. For example, in the Philippines we need to protect our environment and use the resources of our country carefully; we should also do all we can to make Philippine Society more just and more culturally rich.

          Secondly, Jesuit Education insists that because each person is special in God's eyes, he or she should receive special attention in the school. That is why we take great care that the school offers pastoral care to each student. Moreover, we hope our students will never lose their appetite for growing as individuals and will become more and more responsible for their own development.

          Thirdly, Jesuit Education leads students to seek the right way of acting in the world. To do this, they have to know good from bad and be strong in the hope that good can be done while being realistic about the ways in which evil can operate.

          Fourthly, Jesuit Education offers Jesus Christ as the model of human life, and shows students how their faith in Him is nurtured by prayer, worship and service.

          In consequence of this, Jesuit Education has its fifth emphasis. It urges students to have a special concern to bring justice in the world. It believes that a full life is only possible if students have a lifelong concern for their neighbor, especially for those who are poor.

          And so, sixthly, students at a Jesuit school are guided to have an active life in the Church, especially as the Church serves the local community.

          Seventhly, Jesuit Education expects students to pursue excellence in all they do in the classroom, on the sporting fields, in the many extra-curricular opportunities the school offers. When they leave school, they should take with them this habit of trying to do their best.

          Eightly, Jesuit Education stresses how important it is for Jesuits to work with lay people, and tries to bring all those associated with the school --- Jesuits, lay teachers and helpers, parents, and of course, the students themselves --- into a community whose members care for one another.

          Finally, Jesuit Education is ready to change its means and methods so as to achieve all the things mentioned above. All in all, it provides a network or system of schools throughout the world that shares this vision of St. Ignatius and the goals we have just mentioned.

          Schools like Sacred Heart School - Jesuit are places of hope. What we hope for the students and teachers of SHS-J is that they will realize that St. Ignatius himself offers an example of what we can all become. He made the most of his talents by putting himself at the service of his neighbor for the greater glory of God.

          So there are two ways of looking at Jesuit Education. One is to list the qualities that make it up; another is to give the names of people who lived out those qualities. That is why each SHS-J class has been given a Jesuit patron Saint or Blessed who is meant to inspire the teachers and students of the class to embody in their own lives the very qualities of Jesuit Education we have been reflecting upon.

1. The Jesuit School should be a center for renewal and change in the region where it is situated. This goal can be located in the general goals we have of contextualization and inculturation. We should seek to produce graduates who will contribute to the region they are in. We should choose areas of specialization which are particularly important for that region. The School should strive to be center for dialogue between faith and culture with respect to the central concerns of the region where it is located.


2. Each school should formulate its own mission within the larger mission of the Society which is the service of faith and promotion of justice. This puts an emphasis on programs of spirituality/campus ministry and formation in social concern. It asks of the Jesuit community that it play a special role in formation and spiritual animation.


3. Our School should promote dialogue between faith and culture. This follows the urging of the 31st General Congregation, which says:
   

   "The Society should have its own educational institutions where resources and circumstances permit and a greater service of God and the Church can be thereby expected. For these schools constitute at least one effective instrument for the protection of our educational purpose, i.e., the synthesizing of faith and culture. Through these schools a firmer and more lasting social presence in the community is achieved, both because they are a corporate effort and because through the students, families are influenced. Thus the school becomes an apostolic center within the community."

4. The School should continually reflect on the emphasis and balance between its three goals: academic excellence, social concern, spiritually. It should look into the programs and structures to carry out these goals and the resources in terms of manpower and finances committed to them.