February 5, 2025

By Sister Ellen Rose Coughlin, SSJ
Superintendent of Schools

It is time to celebrate our Catholic Schools, their mission, distinctive characteristics, and notable achievements. Many of our schools will celebrate Catholic Schools Week the week of January 26. Others will celebrate in February and some in March. Regardless of the date, schools typically observe the week with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners, and community members. Through these events, schools focus on the value Catholic education provides to young people and its contributions to the Church, local communities, and the nation.

This year’s theme, Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community encompasses the core values of our Catholic Schools. We can sing the praises of our schools recognizing that they:
• share the Christian vision of faith that Christ is the foundation of Catholic education.

• recognize a person’s eternal destiny and the call to be saints.

• combine our Catholic faith with academic excellence.

• provide a balanced academic curriculum that integrates faith, culture, and life,

• instill in students the values of service to others.

• partner with parents in the faith formation of their children.

• instill respect for the human person and all creation.

• emphasize moral development and self-discipline.

• prepare students to be productive citizens and future leaders.

• provide a safe and welcoming environment.

Although we can cite the accomplishments of our schools, we know that excellent schools are engaged in continuous improvement. Recognizing the value of an independent review and evaluation of our schools, our schools earned a system wide accreditation through Cognia in 2020. For more than 125 years, schools have invited Cognia into their schools to evaluate school quality. Cognia Accreditation is respected around the world providing an independent mark of quality in over ninety countries.

The accreditation followed an extensive review of our entire system based on rigorous research-based standards and evidence-based criteria. The process included a balanced approach which combined standards of leaning, leadership and resources, stakeholder feedback and student performance to measure quality programs, relationships, and results.

A system accreditation requires schools to meet continuously the Cognia policies and requirements. During the 2024-25 school year our schools will engage in a self-assessment review that demonstrates that all our diocesan schools are engaged in on-going attention to and evaluation of the learning environment that addresses areas of excellence and challenge as well as areas of needed improvement. Most importantly the process will assess the program and culture of our schools in terms of their distinctive Catholic mission as described in The National Standards and Benchmarks for Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools.

Saint John Paul II called Catholic schools “a gift to our nation.” This gift is made possible through the dedication and commitment of many, including Bishop LaValley, our pastors and parishioners, teachers, staff, administrators, education council members, parents, and volunteers. At this special time of year for our Catholic schools, I extend my gratitude to everyone who makes them successful centers of learning and faith formation.

If you would like to personally experience the unique character of a Catholic school, please call the school principal in your area and arrange a visit. Please pray for our schools. These are challenging times in which to sustain Catholic schools. But, as agents of evangelization and an invaluable “gift to the nation” they are worth our efforts and sacrifices.