This seems something very context specific. Have you thought about asking the staff and students what can be better at school?

When you say "collegial" how exactly are you defining that term? Your college is small, however, collegiate can refer to academics, student involvement, extracurricular activities, etc.

I teach at a 4-year private liberal arts university with a population of approximately 2200 students (undergraduate and graduate). The university offers a good number of majors, organizations, and athletic groups for students which encourages the "collegiate" feeling of being part of a university community. Thank you.

The question is a very important one. The school is both relatively small and has a population of younger children. The children need to be encouraged to develop a sense of belonging to the school. This can be done by opening a variety of activities and encouraging the pupils to take part. These activities need to go beyond the usual school sports and could include things like music, the arts and where possible, chess. Also religious and community activities can be included. Pupils can also be encouraged to develop a sense of loyalty to the establishment and each other. As the school is Catholic, the religious element can be brought in as part of the school and the value-systems that the children can be encouraged to adopt.

Children can be fairly malleable, so it could be possible to encourage a sense of belonging by encouraging a sense of school loyalty, especially if this loyalty means accepting each other. This can go a long way to preventing bullying and encouraging children to be considerate of each other. This is important as younger children are inclined to be self-centred. Bullying among young children is common, though it is not necessarily as brutal as among older children. In fostering a sense of belonging and camaraderie, this rather common but undesirable aspect of school life can be prevented.

From a teacher perspective, teachers need to take a deeper interest in the children and also to get to know them personally. This takes time and effort but is worth it in the end. A parents body can also be valuable in assisting the staff in developing school programmes and activities. Another valuable point is the including of the school as part of the local Catholic Church parish. This can encourage the children to take part in church related activities.

Having mentioned these points, it is necessary to note that not all the children will be from Catholic families. This can be offset by allowing and even encouraging members of other faiths to be part of the school and its activities. A sense of inclusiveness is also valuable in developing a sense of loyalty towards the school and each other. Other Christians can be part of the school activities and those of other faiths (non-christian) can be allowed to open activities and to take part, where possible, in the over-all school life, thus making it inclusive and not purely Catholic. It needs to be noted that, in some countries, there may be laws and other issues relating to the promotion of religious agenda in the school. Caution needs to be exercised to avoid such clashes and conflicts.

My answer above is related to a college not a elementary or secondary school. I apologize for the confusion. Thank you.