When he began his ministry in school leadership at Saint Nicholas School in Los Altos in 2003, Principal Matt Komar partnered with NoBully.org founder Nicholas Carlyle to introduce a curriculum that taught empathy and inclusion, two important gospel values modeled by Christ. 

That collaboration experience continues to guide his work today at Saint Leo the Great School in San Jose and fuels one of his core beliefs about Catholic Schools. He explained: “I have always believed that Catholic schools are one-of-a-kind in that we are the only type of school that can say that we truly "educate the whole person."

Now, 22 years later, he advocates for a curriculum that forms the whole person through social and emotional learning, called the CASEL framework. He explained how, “We use a variety of curriculum, both within the religion standards and outside resources, to teach social and emotional learning.”

Partnering with Parents

When parents visit and tour Saint Leo, Matt shared, “We speak to them about our commitment to educating the whole child.” Parents also teach Project Cornerstone, another social and emotional learning program, to the children as part of the school’s social and emotional learning. According to Komar: “The partnership with parents is critical to implement a sustainable social and emotional learning program.”  

These approaches, through curriculum and partnership, are key to forming future leaders of the Church and the community. “If the future leaders of our Catholic Church are going to be formed in our schools, the most successful leaders will have that strong sense of compassion and unity; values that I believe are missing in many of the leaders of our world and communities today.”

The theme of empathy throughout his education

Matt grew up in this diocese, attending Saint Christopher School. He recalled how, “The Sisters of the Presentation that were my teachers were instrumental in my formation. From my earliest elementary school memories, empathy was taught. We were always taught to think about others before ourselves. Attending Bellarmine College Preparatory, which seeks to form "men for and with others," naturally aligned with his elementary school formation. 

This theme of empathy continued through his higher education at Gonzaga University and Santa Clara University. “One of the reasons I chose to earn a second master's degree from Santa Clara University in Pastoral Ministries was because I firmly believed that the future of our church and our schools would be rooted in theology and in our schools’ successes in forming the future leaders of our church.”

Inspiring Social and Emotional Learning Across the Diocese

For Matt, pastor Father John Poncini is also a source of inspiration. “The real blessing at Saint Leo that cannot be ignored is that our pastor, Father John Poncini, truly believes in how our schools educate the entirety of the whole person.” In Matt’s words, “Father Poncini promotes that same message of how important it is to balance the apostolic, social, and emotional formation with equal commitment to rigorous academics and physical maturity and growth.” 

Matt also sees a unique point of connection between the Pastoral Plan’s youth priority to form young leaders and the CASEL framework, which teaches each student to bring a sense of understanding and solidarity with those whom they are called to serve in their conversations. He reflected, “CASEL can benefit our future church. In my mind, this solidifies how important it is that our Catholic elementary schools always commit to teaching our students life skills as well as modeling values for our students.”