The opportunities for learning and growth in these schools are nothing short of extraordinary. We work with children at all levels of development, helping them become the faithful leaders of tomorrow.

Here’s how we’re doing it.

Saints

From the moment a child walks into a Catholic school, he or she is taking one step closer to God. The God who loved that child into existence. The God who became man for all of us. The God who now calls us — as his children — to grow daily in holiness and happiness in relationship with him. To paraphrase Pope emeritus Benedict XVI: no child is made for comfort or mediocrity. Each child is made for greatness. Every child on earth has been created for sainthood — and Catholic schools are there to help build the strongest possible foundation.

Scholars

In Catholic schools, educators are hard at work to help every child be the best student possible. Learning within our Catholic schools is rooted in the traditional understanding that faith, reason and science coexist in harmony, one with the other. Each emanates from God. Each reveals something of God. Each leads us towards God. That’s the reason why a Catholic school pursues both rigor and excellence in all academic disciplines.

Safe

Worried by woke-ism? Be not afraid. In choosing a Catholic education for their children, parents have a guarantee that those contemporary ideologies that seek to confuse and corrupt children won’t get beyond the classroom door. A Catholic school is a safe haven where every child can be, well, a child! It’s also a safe haven for parents. We recognize and respect that parents are the primary educators of their children and we will never usurp them in that unique responsibility.

Strong

When I was young, I had dreams of playing in the NBA. As you can see, that didn’t quite work out. The lesson? We can’t predict our children’s future, but we can prepare them for it — whatever “it” may be. That’s why a Catholic classroom is a school of virtue. We take care to emphasize the human virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance which are then elevated, through divine grace, by the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. Grace perfecting nature. The result, we pray, are young people who are strong and resilient. Young people who are secure in the knowledge that the Lord is, indeed, their shepherd.

Smile

Children in Catholic school smile. It’s true. Come and find out for yourself. What’s more, our staff smile too! Why? Because our schools are places where children encounter Jesus Christ, and it is in that experience that we begin to discover our greatest happiness in this life as well as our deepest peace and ultimate purpose. As St. Augustine of Hippo says: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

So, there you have it. Five big reasons to give thanks to God for a Catholic education and our Catholic schools. In total, our 35 schools educate more than 8,000 students — that’s 8,000 precious souls and future saints — across the Diocese of Lansing.

May God continue to bless our work.