This week is Catholic Schools Week, the annual celebration of Catholic education across the United States, including the Diocese of Lansing.
“As we begin Catholic Schools Week 2021, I would like to express my gratitude to all the wonderful families, students, teachers and staff who faithfully and enthusiastically support our Catholic schools within the Diocese of Lansing – may God bless you all,” said Tom Maloney, the Diocese of Lansing’s Superintendent of Catholic Schools, February 1.
“At a time when the secular world is pushing God and religion out of the public square it is more urgent and more important than ever to ensure that we have Catholic schools that are viable and available to help our families with their most important job – to raise up saints and scholars.”
The Diocese of Lansing contains 28 parish elementary schools and four regional high schools. Together they educate a total of over 7,300 students. Each Catholic school attempts to assist parents in forming their children to become happy and holy young people who fulfill their God-given potential.
Spiritually, every school has the support of a priest chaplain with Catholic students in Catholic schools being 7-8 times more likely to attend Sunday Mass than Catholic students in public schools. Academically, the student to staff ratio in a Diocese of Lansing classroom is, on average, 14 to 1, with 98% of all graduates going onto college. Financially, Diocese of Lansing schools also award over $50 million in college scholarships each year.
In terms of tuition assistance, this year saw the Diocese of Lansing’s Catholic schools distribute more than $523,000 in scholarship funds including the relatively new Venerable Augustus Tolton Scholarship which is aimed at increasing the number of Catholic African American students in the Diocese of Lansing’s schools
“Academic excellence and service are hallmarks of Catholic education,” explains Tom Maloney, “Together, academic excellence and service, foster the growth of the whole person – mind, body and spirit – and the desire to be active witnesses to Catholic social teaching on each student’s journey to mature Christian discipleship.”
To know more about the Diocese of Lansing Catholic schools go to: https://dolcatholicschools.org/