Catholic schools in the Diocese of Gary strive to provide academic excellence, inspired by faith in action. We take the opportunity of Catholic Schools Week to celebrate how this vision is thriving and to give thanks to all the people who help us fulfill our vision. Two years ago, we initiated a strategic plan that grounds our schools’ ministry in four pillars: offering academic excellence, innovative programming, retention and recruitment, and faith formation. These pillars define what is essential to our Catholic identity.
Every enrollment indicator has exceeded expectations for the diocese. Enrollment is up 6% from last year, totaling nearly 6,000 students from preschool to 12th grade. Enrollment is at its highest in the past decade in six of our schools. We have more than 350 new students enrolled in our Catholic schools this year. One of the factors attributed to this growth is the significant expansion of the school choice legislation approved in the Indiana 2023 spring legislative session. This progressive model allows each qualifying family with an average $6,000 scholarship to use toward tuition at the school they think is best for their child. This school choice program expansion raised the financial requirements so that 97% of families in Indiana now qualify for this scholarship. This program has inspired a national trend in Catholic schools, leading toward growth and expansion.
Our schools strive to encourage academic excellence for every child. In our three high schools, over 99% of our students are graduating and 94% of our graduates are choosing to attend a college or university. Our elementary schools are outperforming state and local public schools in state assessments in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. Every one of our schools is accredited by the State of Indiana and goes through an additional accreditation by Cognia. Teachers are certified through the state or are involved with one of our many university partners to earn their teaching certificate. Our 8th graders have the opportunity to take high school-level classes, and our seniors can take dual credit and advanced placement courses for college credit earning tens of millions of dollars in college scholarships.
Our enrollment growth and academic excellence are rooted in our Catholic identity. Students and families dedicate hundreds of millions of volunteer service hours to their schools and communities. They attend Mass weekly, receive their sacraments, and build a relationship with Jesus. We model how to see faith in action and live out the 2022 Synod goals and the bishop’s 10 principles for being missionary disciples. Our academic work is complimented with daily prayer and religion classes. Teachers participate in annual faith formation to support their personal faith journey and to strengthen the faith of their students.
During Catholic Schools Week, we celebrate how we are growing in enrollment, surpassing academic benchmarks, and remaining grounded in our Catholic identity. However, the most common reason parents and students choose to attend one of our 20 schools is because of the community. They continue to choose our schools because of the people. That is why it is important to take the time during Catholic Schools Week to give thanks to everyone who is part of our schools. We are blessed to have the leadership of our pastors and principals, caring staff, dedicated teachers, generous parents and soulful students.
Many of you in our parishes also attended a Catholic school sometime in your childhood. Thank you for being part of our extended family to this day. We rely on our alumni, parishioners and community partners to offer their time, talent and treasures to thrive. This week, say an extra prayer for all of us in Catholic education, that we may be given the gifts we need to develop these students and souls entrusted to our care.
Colleen Brewer is the Diocese of Gary Superintendent of Schools. The Glenwood, Ill. native has served as principal at Resurrection College Prep High School while working on her doctorate in the Superintendent Preparation Program at nearby Loyola University.