Who We Are

Imago Dei

Foundationally Rooted in the Catholic Faith

From Latin, Imago Dei translates to "the image of God." The Catholic Church believes that while people are all different from one another, they are all made in the image and likeness of God.

At DSHA, our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is rooted in Imago Dei, a fundamental Catholic belief. Loving one another means putting into practice Catholic Social Teaching, and our scriptural call to "do justice, love goodness, and humbly walk with God" (Micah 6:8) is foundational to our faith and the formation of all Christians.

How We See the Image of God in All Students

Academic Success

At all times cognizant of the student academic experience, DSHA leadership is committed to providing every student in the building access to opportunities for success.

Unity

We ask and seek answers to significant issues: How can we build bridges at DSHA, in our city and in the U.S. during divided times? How do non-Catholic students express their faith, and how might they educate us in those faiths? What are Best Buddies’ initiatives regarding working with students with special needs? These and more are among the discussion topics at monthly Dasher Dialogues, open to all students and faculty.

Respect for All

Called by our faith to teach and model respect, we strive to instill the same in all of our students during their four years here – and for a lifetime. What results is true appreciation and celebration of the better community we are for what each of us brings.

Family Belonging

Our work applies not just to each student, but to her parents and family as well. We support specifically those families whose primary language at home is not English.

Student Life

At DSHA, we seek to engage all students through programming that speaks to their needs. Popular programs and events include the following:

Co-curriculars: DSHA invites students to join co-curriculars that speak to their values and identities, including Furia Latina, Asian Student Union, Sisters of Culture, and Best Buddies.
Dasher Dialogues: The Student Diversity Council selects topics of interest to discuss during Dasher time. Dialogues occur monthly, and topics vary based on current events. There are typically five or six Dasher Dialogues held each year. Topics have included the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Milwaukee, cultural appropriation, and implicit bias.
Black History Month Mass: This Mass is celebrated in conjunction with Black History Month and Multicultural Week. The Mass is planned and organized by the Sisters of Culture Club in conjunction with Campus Ministry. Worship includes student-led gospel music and a worship dance performance.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Bilingual Mass: This all-school bilingual Mass annually celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron of the Americas. It is held each December and planned by the Furia Latina Club in conjunction with Campus Ministry.
Multicultural Dance: DSHA hosts a Multicultural Dance every other year, which is open to students from all area high schools. Before the dance, DSHA hosts a powerful open mic, which is always well-attended by students.
Multicultural Assembly: DSHA's Multicultural Assembly highlights the importance of diversity at DSHA, and students of diverse backgrounds are invited to share their experiences with the entire school community.

To learn more or to ask questions, contact:

Tanya Keenan
Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
KeenanT@dsha.info

From The Profile of a Salvatorian Educator

To embrace diversity means to believe in the strength of difference, connected by a common mission. A professional who embraces diversity works to achieve a high level of cultural competence and successfully manages issues across diverse populations as a dynamic, ongoing, developmental process that requires long term commitment and lifelong learning. A culturally competent educator eliminates barriers to learning and inclusion, and provides high quality experiences grounded in a respect for human dignity. We all contribute to and benefit from a broad spectrum of unique human qualities; diversity is the energy that propels our school community forward.

Catholic Social Teaching at DSHA

At DSHA, we rely on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's Catholic Social Responsibility Guidebook, a resource grounded in Catholic Social Teachings, Scripture, official Church documents, and the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools. This guidebook focuses on four primary challenges: culture, racism, civic participation for the common good, and economics.

Catholic Social Teaching provides the foundation for the instruction and formation of our Catholic school communities regarding all social issues; Catholic schools participate directly in the evangelizing mission of the Church and, as such, are called to “make disciples of all”; as central to their mission, Catholic schools will educate the whole student by effectively integrating faith, culture, and life; Catholic schools will teach and model the essence of Catholic social action: love for God and neighbor; and respect for all people will be a fundamental expectation for every member of our Catholic school communities.

Additionally, every senior at DSHA takes a course focused on Catholic Social teaching as part of her eight semesters of Theology.

The Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching
Archdiocese of Milwaukee's Guidelines Regarding Catholic Social Responsibility

Catholic Social Teaching & racial justice

Within the Catholic tradition, conversations around racial justice should include reference to papal encyclicals and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) documents that challenge us to have a robust commitment to ending all types of prejudice in our culture.

It is through the document Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love, a Pastoral Letter Against Racism, that we are explicitly called, as Catholics, to address all of the ways that racism impacts our world. Acknowledgement, awareness, reflection, and healing can happen if we dedicate time to dialogue with those who have different backgrounds and life experiences. We must open wide our hearts to one another and to God’s Word.

Read "Open Wide Our Hearts"
Read "Brothers and Sisters to Us"
Read More from USCCB

Terms to Know

List of 3 items.

Human Dignity
- From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God”.
- In the lived experience of the Church, human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency.
- The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching. We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.
Common Good
In theological terms, the common good is defined in Pope John XXIII’s encyclical Mater et Magistra (On Christianity and Social Progress, 1961) as “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.”

From The Catechism of Catholic Church:

“The common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority. It consists of three essential elements:

First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. Society should permit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as "the right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard . . . privacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion.

Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly, it is the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the name of the common good, between various particular interests; but it should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a family, and so on.

Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defense.”
Solidarity

The common good, as a foundational principle, is closely intertwined with Human dignity and leads to solidarity*. In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (1987) John Paul II says the following:

"When interdependence becomes recognized …, the correlative response as a moral and social attitude, as a 'virtue,' is solidarity. This then is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all." (para. 38)

Divine Savior Holy Angels High School

4257 N. 100th Street Milwaukee, WI 53222 | Phone: (414) 462-3742

Sponsored by the Sisters of the Divine Savior