Extra Credit

Your A.M. roundup

Good Monday morning. Got back yesterday from running the eighth annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon (photo courtesy of The Oklahoman). If you've never been to the beautiful but heartbreaking landmark (it was my first time), it's highly worth the three-or-so-hour drive up Interstate 35. At a museum next door, you can sit in a former Oklahoma Water Commission conference room and listen to a tape of a meeting that was in progress when the explosion hit and the chaos that followed. We talked to a member of the Catholic church that is across the street -- it sustained $3 million in damage that day -- who told a couple of amazing stories. In one of them, the parish priest, who always walked to the bank a couple of blocks away, decided that day to drive. His deposit slip was stamped 9:02 a.m., the time of the blast -- which became a news story itself -- but if he  hadn't driven, he would probably have been walking by the Murrah building at the fateful moment.

Now, on to the news. Today on star-telegram.com:

Seeking to make career success academic

Park Row Christian builds top reputation

After 38 years in the Arlington district, principal's school days are finally over

Principal James Adams says the day-to-day contact with teens is what he'll miss the most when he retires June 7, right after giving out diplomas to a new class of graduates. See a video of Adams here.

Keeping Fort Worth's campuses on track

-Patrick M. Walker

Are Catholic schools in trouble?

With Pope Benedict visiting the U.S. this week, many have called attention to the struggles of Catholic schools. This month the Thomas B. Fordham Institute issued a report finding that more than 1,300 Catholic schools have closed since 1990. The report found that Catholic schools generally were viewed more favorable by the public than the Church itself. Here's an Associated Press story on Catholic school closings. Recently Donald Miller, superintendent of the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese, said area schools have seen an increase in enrollment two of the last three years.

-Eva-Marie Ayala