Are you ready – and excited – for Catholic Schools Week?

“Since 1974, National Catholic Schools Week has been the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. It starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week, which in 2024 is Jan. 28 – Feb. 3. The theme for National Catholic Schools Week 2024 is “Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community.”

BISHOP
KEVIN J.
SWEENEY

As we approach “Catholic Schools Week 2024,” I am looking forward to the opportunity to visit many of the Catholic Schools in our diocese to celebrate with students, parents, teachers, and administrators the gift and ministry of Catholic Schools. I believe that most active, practicing Catholics are aware of the great value of our Catholic Schools, the inestimable contributions that Catholic Schools have made throughout the history and progress of our nation, and the blessing that they have been and continue to be in the lives of countless (millions) of individual lives and families. I also believe that most of those same active, practicing Catholics are aware that the last number of decades has been very challenging for Catholic Schools in our diocese and in (at least) the Northeastern part of our country.

In looking forward to what will be my fourth “Catholic Schools Week” as bishop, I would like to ask, in a particular way, for the assistance of all those who read this column. If you are aware of and appreciate the value of our Catholic Schools, please do all that you can to share that “Great News about Catholic Schools” with others, especially the parents of school-age children. One way to be well-equipped to share the “Great News” about Catholic Schools in our diocese of Paterson is to go to the Catholic Schools Office website.

I will share just a few of the “fun and exciting” facts about our Catholic Schools that you will find on the website (when you click on the 2022-23 Annual Report):

• Our Mission: To develop communities that are Christ-centered, academically excellent and welcoming, that enable students to be lifelong learners and good citizens of the world.
• We are currently educating 5,579 students in our 18 diocesan schools (15 elementary and middle schools and three high schools)
• While test scores for elementary students across the country have recently suffered from the “pandemic slide,” our students continue to consistently achieve scores that are significantly higher than national averages.

It is a great privilege for me, as bishop, to work with Mary Baier, our diocesan Superintendent of Schools, and her team in our Catholic Schools Office, with Father Stan Barron, vicar for Education, and with the presidents, principals, teachers, and staff of our diocesan Catholic Schools. It is also important to recognize the leadership and dedicated service of our pastors and priests who support and minister in our schools. Recognizing that every Catholic School, along with our parish Religious Education programs, is a partnership with parents, who are the “first catechists” of their children, I take this opportunity to thank all the parents and families who choose to send their children to a Catholic school. Many parents and families are making great sacrifices and are (literally) working overtime or a second or third job so that they can afford to send their child or children to a Catholic school.

While the number of Catholic Schools in our diocese has (significantly) decreased in recent decades, we are fortunate that many of our schools are thriving, vibrant, and filled to capacity. A few of our schools are struggling with enrollment. For this reason, I am encouraging all those who believe in the value of Catholic Schools to help us “spread the Great News about our Catholic Schools.” An opportunity to share this “Great News” happens during Catholic Schools Week, when our schools will be having “Open Houses” and other events that can help parents and families see a Catholic School as an option that could be a great blessing for their children and families.

When we think of families who may be concerned about whether they can afford to pay tuition, we all should be ready to let them know about the Tri-County Scholarship Fund. In order to share this “Great News” about financial assistance and scholarships, you can go to the Tri-County Scholarship Fund website. There you can learn how families can apply for scholarships (**By the Feb. 15 Scholarship Application Deadline**). You can also learn about their history and mission:

Tri-County Scholarship Fund provides opportunity for financially needy New Jersey children — without regard to race or religion — by offering scholarships to better, safer and values-based independent schools that help students to reach their full potential.

I take this opportunity to thank President Prudence Piggott, the wonderful, dedicated members of the board, and the extremely generous donors (individuals and corporations) who do the amazing work of the Tri-County Scholarship Fund. Their combined efforts and generosity make a difference in the lives of (approximately 500) students and families each year, offering that opportunity to attend a “better, safer, and values-based independent school” — which very often means a Catholic School in the Diocese of Paterson. The enrollment in a number of our Schools is much better than it would be otherwise because students are receiving a “Tri-County Scholarship.”

When I reflect on the theme of Catholic Schools Week 2024, “Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community,” I am very grateful for the ways in which that theme is “lived out” on a daily basis in the Catholic Schools of our diocese. Parents, parish communities, school administrators, and teachers are truly “united in Faith and Community” as their children receive a faith-based, holistic (body, mind, and soul) education in an environment of prayer, service, compassion, and welcome. Our Diocesan Schools Office, Tri-County Scholarship Fund staff and donors, and all those who contribute to our annual Diocesan Ministries Appeal are “united in Faith and Community” (and generosity) as they support the Catholic Schools of our diocese.

As we look forward and, hopefully, are excited for Catholic Schools Week 2024, I ask you, dear reader, to be “united in Faith and Community” as we share the “Great News” about Catholic Schools with our families, friends, and neighbors. Let us also be united in prayer, giving thanks to God for our Catholic Schools and asking God to Bless all those who are “united in Faith and Community” in the Catholic Schools of our diocese.