From time to time, I have the joy and privilege of visiting Catholic schools. Most recently, I visited several high schools. The visit begins with a tour of the campus. Often, I am shown upgrades to buildings, libraries, sports fields, technology, labs and much more. I notice how clean and well-kept the schools are.
As I walk from place to place, there is a sense of order mixed with youthful enthusiasm. On any given morning, students are already in the gym and library. Some are in the chapel. There is energy and enthusiasm in the air but without chaos or cacophony. Put more simply, no one is shouting, arguing or pushing. Everyone – students, administrators and faculty – seem united and intent on one thing: fulfilling the mission of the school.
I mention this because we are getting ready to celebrate Catholic Schools Week (Jan. 30-Feb. 3), a week when we highlight the value of our Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. There are more than 40 of them spread throughout the City of Baltimore and the nine Maryland counties that comprise the Archdiocese. Our archdiocesan schools and those that are sponsored by religious orders educate and form some 24,000 students.
Our schools are located in urban, suburban and rural areas. Our student population is diverse. And, in terms of cost per pupil and average tuition rates, they are an excellent value proposition. Evidently, more and more parents are seeing this. Over the past two years, enrollment in our schools has risen by about 10 percent.
What’s more, these schools are academically excellent. Last year, students in the Archdiocese of Baltimore placed first in the nation in high school placement tests. During the coronavirus pandemic, our schools maintained in-person learning as much as possible, with the result that our students did not experience learning gaps. In fact, there was growth in academic achievement, as evidenced in the early fall math scores of our students. Our community schools in Baltimore City help students from underserved neighborhoods read and do math at grade level – and this is the foundation to future academic success. Students in these schools go on to excellent high schools and most go on to post-secondary education.
Yet, these schools are more than “a value proposition” – well-worth the hard-earned dollars used for tuition. Our schools provide a very different learning environment, one that is rooted in the person of Christ. Dr. Donna Hargens, superintendent of schools, often says that our schools offer “a Christ-centered education.”
Does this mean that religion is taught five days a week? That crucifixes and religious art adorn our schools? That our students attend Mass and are offered opportunities for the sacrament of reconciliation? To be sure, you will find these things in our schools. But a Christ-centered school doesn’t just see the faith as an “add-on,” merely one subject among many, a part of what we do. Rather, Christ is at the center, there in the midst of all that we do, the way we approach every subject, every aspect of the school.
There was a sign you would often see displayed in Catholic schools that read: “Be it known to all who enter here, that Christ is the reason for this school. He is the unseen, but ever-present teacher in its classes. He is the model of its faculty and the inspiration of its students.”
This is the heart of our mission of education. This is what truly sets our schools apart. This is the true value of a Catholic education.
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