Special Feature
Catholic Schools Week
+ EdChoice Expansion Enrollment
"All your children shall be taught by the LORD;
great shall be the peace of your children."
- Isaiah 54:13
Catholic Schools Week, January 28 - February 3, 2024, celebrates over 110,000 students attending the 373 Catholic K-12 schools across Ohio. It is also a time to recognize the teachers, staff, clergy, religious, volunteers, parishioners, and legislators who enable Catholic schools to form students in virtue and knowledge within faith-filled, service-oriented, and safe environments. We especially rejoice over the EdChoice Expansion Scholarship, available to ALL Ohio students, now making Catholic education more affordable. For example, a family of four making $140,000 per year or less, is eligible for a scholarship for each student in the amount of $6,166 (K-8) and $8,408 (grades 9-12).
Did You Know?
CCO, OCSAA, and Catholic Education in Ohio
- The Catholic Conference of Ohio (CCO) collaborates with the Superintendents of six dioceses in Ohio and advocates for public policies that support Ohio Catholic schools, students, and families.
- The Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association (OCSAA), a CCO affiliate, exists to strengthen Catholic school identity and mission and to engage Catholic schools in the ongoing improvement of student learning.
- OCSAA works with Catholic schools in Ohio to implement and maintain standards approved by the State Board of Education and manages the accreditation process for Catholic schools to apply for and maintain a chartered status in Ohio. The Association ensures Catholic schools remain accountable to various state standards, so parents can trust that their children receive a quality education in a safe environment.
EdChoice in Ohio
Historical Facts of Catholic Schools
- Catholic schools in America date back to at least 1606, formed by Franciscan friars in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. (1)
- Ursuline Academy, a private Catholic school in New Orleans, Louisiana, founded in 1727, was the first free school for ladies and offered the first classes for enslaved African-American women, free women of color, and Native Americans. (2)
- The first parochial Catholic school was established in 1782 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (1)
- Saints like St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Frances Cabrini contributed to the large growth of U.S. Catholic schools to serve and educate immigrants and those living in poverty.
- Catholic schools were the first to desegregate students ahead of public schools, starting in 1938 in the Indianapolis diocese and in 1947 in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, both by Cardinal Joseph E. Ritter. (3)
- Today, Catholic schools comprise the largest parochial school system in the world.
1. Catholic School Playbook: www.catholicschoolplaybook.com/introduction.
2. Robenstine Clark, "French Colonial Policy and the Education of Women and Minorities: Louisiana in the Early Eighteenth Century," History of Education Quarterly (1992) 32#2 pp. 193-211 in JSTOR.
3. "Cardinal Joseph E. Ritter". Marian University.
