Catholic school leadership, made practical.
Catholic School Matters is a practical interview series about Catholic school leadership, policy, formation, and classroom life. Its conversations move from broad questions about technology, board work, pluralism, and faith into the decisions educators make each day.
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Catholic School Matters is a long-running interview series about the lived work of Catholic education. It is not a lecture hall. The show usually opens with a direct question, lets the guest tell a story, and then follows the thread back toward school-level practice. That rhythm suits its subject. Catholic schools are treated as places where theology, family life, board work, technology, finance, classroom routines, and leadership judgment all meet at once. Recent conversations show that range clearly. Megan Crowley-Sullivan talks through the Catholic Companion Framework for Technology and Innovation, with attention to formation, reflection, and the temptation to reduce every technology concern to a ban. Dr. Patrick Manning brings contemplative practice into the school day, connecting silence, time, mental health, learning, and Christian tradition. Julie Cupercio gives a vivid account of principal life, where Advent hallway prayer, pastor involvement, after-school care, and hard conversations all belong to the same vocation. Regina Haney and Dr. Dale Hoyt frame board development as continuing formation rather than a one-time training event. Dr. Ashley Rogers-Burner discusses educational pluralism, democracy, exposure, indoctrination, and the purpose of public funding. Tommy Kalacki describes RCIA at Tampa Jesuit as part of a wider innovation spotlight on Catholic school practice. Lorcan Barnes reflects on lessons from years as a Catholic high school president. The show can be serious, but it stays conversational. It prefers examples to declarations. Its best moments make institutional questions feel concrete: the sound of a bell schedule, the role of a pastor at pickup, the limits of screens, the way a board learns together, or the need for quiet in a restless school day.
Made for: For Catholic school leaders, teachers, board members, campus ministers, and education policy listeners who want reflective conversation tied to real school decisions. It also suits anyone interested in how Catholic schools respond to technology, board work, formation, and public debate.
What sets it apart: The show’s strength is its steady movement from large educational ideas to lived school practice. It treats Catholic identity, policy, and leadership as connected daily work rather than separate talking points.
Dr. Tim Uhl, the Principal at Notre Dame High School and the creator of the "Catholic School Matters" blog & podcast as well as the author of "Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic School Leadership" (2020), interviews thought leaders in Catholic education and explores best practices for a better future.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Catholic School Matters makes the daily institutional work of Catholic education legible without separating leadership decisions from spiritual formation.
Tim treats Catholic education as a lived institutional practice, using interviews to connect faith with the decisions that shape schools. Conversations move easily between classroom technology, curriculum, school leadership, and the place of prayer in a busy day.
That pastor working school pickup might make your next leadership meeting a little awkward.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Catholic formation framework gives technology anxiety a calmer, more reflective vocabulary.
Catholic School Matters looks at how Catholic schools can approach technology and innovation through a framework grounded in formation. Dr. Tim Muehl speaks with Megan Crowley-Sullivan, Curriculum and Professional Learning Coordinator at the LMU Ideal Institute, about prayer,…
A thoughtful look at how silence, negative space, and school schedules can make room for meaning.
Contemplative practice is framed as a question of how Catholic schools live inside time, not just how they add a quiet moment to a crowded day. Dr.
Sam Lugana's story links Catholic school leadership, sports, broadcasting, faith, and memory.
Sam Lugana's visit to Catholic School Matters brings together the voice of the Rams at SoFi Stadium, a former Catholic school president, a high school president, and an old friend of Dr. Tim Muehl.
A clear introduction to shared virtual development for Catholic school boards, with community support and practical boardroom learning in view.
Catholic school boards take center stage as host Dr. Tim Newell talks with Regina and Dr. Dale Hoyt about a virtual board development series. Shaped by requests from earlier participants, the sessions bring elementary and secondary perspectives into the same conversation while…
A warm, practical look at Catholic school leadership during Advent.
St. Joe's School in West Warwick comes through as a place where faith is carried by routine as much as reflection. Julie Cupercio talks about Advent prayer and Mary on the Mantle alongside the grounded realities of tuition, absent leaders, and the steady pressure that comes with…
A grounded Catholic-school discussion of AI risk, deepfakes, exposed personal information, and the preparation educators and parents still need.
Artificial intelligence is framed here as a Catholic-school responsibility question: what educators owe students when the tools are moving faster than the safeguards.
A measured case for educational pluralism, substantive knowledge, and responsible public funding.
Educational pluralism is framed as a democratic responsibility, tying together what schools should teach, how public funding should be used, and where exposure ends and indoctrination begins. Dr.
Scripture, culture, and prophecy under pressure.
A season-by-season history show pairing dramatized Rasputin and Salem narratives with historian interviews.
Two Bible translators unpack Scripture's hardest passages, from Revelation's 666 to the Witch of Endor.
Weekly Portuguese-language sermons from Pastor Pedro Bastoge on scripture, end times, and church life.
MJ Dorian's solo deep dives trace genius through Blake, McQueen, da Vinci, and Jung's Red Book.
Two Methodist pastors and guests work through forgiveness, control, and grief in scripture.
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Megan Crowley-Sullivan says the framework starts with "Imago Dei" and ends with "wonder, mystery and awe."
Dr. Patrick Manning says a school bell can become "a call to prayer" instead of a "starters gun."
Sam Lugana describes the Pacific Palisades fire as "we burned, but we didn't burn down."
Regina Haney says boards need to know “who owns what” and “who has the final say.”
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