Schools return with launch of first impact report highlighting growth & investments

Catholic elementary and high schools of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are beginning the 2025-2026 school year with new students, academic growth, investment in teachers, principals, and students, as part of ongoing efforts to ensure that Catholic schools continue providing students with the highest quality faith-based education. With 252 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 serving more than 65,500 students.

“Every new school year is a chance to start anew and re-commit to the future of our students. As a community, we re-commit ourselves this year to the belief that God has graced every child with the ability to achieve their maximum potential. Our ministry, which goes above and beyond educating the mind, also forms the heart and inspires the soul,” said Paul M. Escala, Senior Director and Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese. “The tragic events at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis have shocked and saddened us all. It also strengthens our commitment to do all we can to protect our children. Protecting our children at school from internal and external threats is paramount – from hiring practices, safe child training, background checks, physical security on-campus, keeping unauthorized persons off-campus, and other protections are a function of our efforts to keep students safe.”

The newly released first-ever Impact Report for the Department of Catholic Schools highlights an emphasis on academic quality and performance growth, investments in systems and structures to strengthen operational vitality in schools and resources to sustain and form teachers and schools leaders.

“With continued growth in academic performance, we are on track to becoming the highest performing system of Catholic schools in the nation,” said Mr. Escala in a video welcoming families, teachers and school leadership back for the new school year. “In kicking-off the 2025-26 school year, we are looking ahead to the future in a bold and exciting way. We will improve our campuses, invest in academic and enrichment programs, enhance Catholic identity and faith formation, increase tuition aid, and invest in our educator workforce.”

The Archdiocese’s Department of Catholic Schools has partnered with philanthropic organizations to secure funding for its Catholic Educator Investment Initiative which increases the compensation of teachers and principals in schools serving the highest need communities. The initiative is set to deploy nearly $11 million to supplement the salaries of 99 principals and 1,251 teachers for the 2025-26 academic year, and draw new talent to Catholic schools across the Archdiocese with 27 new principal positions filled for this school year.

Students at Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese are required to complete a minimum of 80 hours of Christian service over the course of four years with last school year’s graduating seniors contributing more than 36,000 of Christian service throughout Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The service experiences embody the Catholic educational mission to form young people as transformative agents of change in their communities and society.

The Solidarity Schools program, now beginning its third year, provides vulnerable students with high-quality instructional resources in literacy and math aimed at helping more than 4,000 students go 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. Since the program launched in 2023, students have demonstrated sustained and consistent academic improvement across all performance categories.

During the past two years, 24 schools participated as Solidarity Schools, 18 elementary and six high schools located in communities of Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, East LA, Compton, and Pico Rivera including Our Lady of Victory in Compton, St. Albert the Great School in Rancho Dominguez and Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Oxnard. At least two-thirds of Solidarity School participants come from low-income backgrounds, and 94% are Black or Latino. Over the past two years the program has achieved:

• Elementary schools and high schools saw a five-point increase in students performing at/above benchmark across the board on standardized testing
• A dramatic reduction of students performing at “urgent intervention” levels in elementary reading and math, and high school math
• In reading proficiency, 1st-5th grade students that couldn’t determine sounds or simple words dropped from 13% to just 0.1% and students performing at/above benchmark rose from 30% to 55%

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. 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, CEF has provided more than $264 million in tuition assistance awards to 230,000 financially deserving students 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.

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