National Catholic Schools Week 2018 will be observed in dioceses around the country, including the Diocese of Sacramento, Jan. 28 to Feb. 3. This year's theme, "Catholic Schools: Learn, Serve, Lead and Succeed,” focuses on the important faith-building, academic and societal contributions provided by a Catholic education.
Schools throughout the diocese observe the annual week with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members. Through these events, schools focus on the value Catholic education provides to young people and its contributions to church, local communities and the nation.
This year, parishioners of each parish connected with a Catholic school in the diocese will see an eye-catching poster featuring students from their parish and announcing their school’s upcoming open house and activities during Catholic Schools Week. The posters, which include each school’s mission statement, will also promote activities such as school Masses, transitional or pre-kindergarten information nights, and education fairs.
Each diocesan elementary school will host an open house in observance of Catholic Schools Week. During weekend Masses on Jan. 20-21, designated school representatives will offer the congregants of each parish an invitation to attend the open house celebration held at their local Catholic school. Please refer to one of the Catholic Schools Week posters or your parish bulletin for further information about Catholic Schools Week activities happening near you.
To locate an open house, please visit www.scd.org/openhouse. If you would like to learn more about one of the diocese's Catholic schools, please contact your local school principal or the Catholic School Department at 916-733-0110 and they will help you arrange a tour.
"Our diocese enjoys a rich legacy of Catholic education," says Lincoln Snyder, executive director of schools, in a statement for Catholic Schools Week. "Indeed, our oldest school, Mount St. Mary Academy in Grass Valley, is 159 years old and is the oldest continuously-operating school west of the Mississippi River. Our diocese is blessed with its diversity. We enjoy a network of 36 Catholic elementary schools and six high schools, totaling 13,000 students, that expands from St. Vincent Ferrer School in Vallejo in the west, to Holy Trinity School in El Dorado Hills in the east, to St. Joseph School in Redding in the north. All of our schools, whether large and urban or small and rural, offer an outstanding education that is centered in the Catholic community, academic excellence and formation of character."
In photo above: Viewing their poster at St. Mel School in Fair Oaks are, left to right: Sean Johnson, Amaya Tumber, Greta Crumely and Janet Nagel, principal.