LA Catholic Schools commence new school year with more opportunities

Catholic schools across the tri-County Archdiocese of Los Angeles will begin welcoming students back to school at its 250 elementary and high schools in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties this week. The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese provide faith-based education to over 67,000 students who receive tools for success in college careers through early college programs such as the Early College Network (ECN), which significantly grew since its inception in 2020. Additionally, the Solidarity Schools program, a three-year initiative aimed at helping more than 4,000 students goes beyond academic growth in the classroom by targeting attendance, behavior, and parent and family involvement, giving students valuable skills to help break the cycle of poverty.

“As we embark on a new school year, we are proud to announce expanded opportunities for our students to grow and excel, both in the classroom, and beyond,” said Paul Escala, Senior Director and Superintendent of Catholic Schools. “Through the growth of our Early College Network and our Solidarity Schools initiative, the Department of Catholic Schools continues to demonstrate its commitment to developing today’s students into the successful leaders of tomorrow. I am grateful for our exceptional educators, dedicated staff, and supportive community as we foster an environment of academic excellence and innovation for our young people.”

While public high schools and several Archdiocesan high schools provide students with opportunities to take college courses through community colleges, the ECN expands beyond community colleges to partner with accredited four-year institutions such as Arizona State University and Seton Hill University by offering students concurrent enrollment in accredited four-year college and university courses. Since its inception in 2020, it has successfully provided students with the opportunities for scholarships and college career success. The program is designed to improve high school transcripts and to demonstrate that a student can already succeed in college-level courses, and to reduce overall college costs.

During the 2023-2024 school year 507 participating students completed and passed 1,088 courses earning a total of 3,251 college credits. Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary (Montebello), Sacred Heart (Los Angeles), San Gabriel Mission (San Gabriel), Santa Clara (Oxnard) and St. Pius X and St. Matthias High School (Downey), in partnership with Arizona State University, embedded college courses within the school day under the supervision of teacher facilitators for a continuous multi-year program that lead to a certificate. Bishop Mora Salesian (Los Angeles), St. Anthony (Long Beach), St. Bonaventure (Ventura), St. Joseph (Lakewood) and St. Paul High School (San Fe Springs), in partnership with Seton Hill University, convert existing classes into dual enrollment courses within the school day with faculty members serving as adjunct professors for the opportunity to earn AP credit, college credit, or both.

In addition, the Solidarity Schools initiative in the Archdiocese begins its 4^th year providing low-income area schools with high-quality instructional resources in Literacy and Math. During the 2023-2024 school year, 24 schools participated as Solidarity Schools, 18 elementary and 8 high schools. At least two-thirds of Solidarity School participants come from low-income backgrounds, and 94% are Black or Latino. Program highlights included:

• A reduced percentage of students at urgent intervention by 9 points in elementary reading and 8 points in high school math;
• Both elementary and high schools increased the percentage of students at/above benchmark from 12% to 17% (a 5-point gain);
• In early literacy, the percentage of students at/above benchmark grew by 25%;
• And Success For All (SFA), an elementary literacy program that provides phonics-based language arts curriculum, coaching, and professional development, showed an 8% growth in grades 2-5.

Since 1851, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles have been committed to educating, inspiring, and supporting students within a vibrant, Christ-centered community. With 250 schools in three counties –Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara– the Department of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest Catholic school system in the United States. Students learn passionately, serve faithfully, and grow toward their highest potential.

Catholic schools rely on contributions and other support to keep tuition low, so that all students have a benefit. This year, the Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) granted more than 15,000 tuition awards with a $23 million budget to students in financial need in over 200 of the 250 archdiocesan schools. Over the past 37 years, Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) has provided more than $264 million in tuition assistance awards to 230,000 financially deserving student attending Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese. Students receiving CEF assistance have a graduation rate of 98 percent and a college attendance rate of 98 percent.

To learn more about the Department of Catholic Schools visit https://lacatholicschools.org and visit https://lacatholics.org/weseeyou/ for teaching opportunities at a Catholic school.