CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ANNUAL REPORT 2022-2023
2 | DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE FROM THE VICAR FOR EDUCATION Very Reverend Timothy S. Reid V.F. DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST, It’s with both joy and gratitude that I present to you the 2022-2023 annual report for the Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Charlotte. We had another outstanding year, which was only possible because of your sacrifices and support. Thank you, parents, for entrusting your children to our schools. With you, I am grateful to all our administrators, faculty, and school staffs who make our Catholic schools possible. Since the pandemic, our schools have enjoyed unprecedented growth. Indeed, our systemwide enrollment has increased approximately 15% since the 2019-2020 school year when the pandemic began. Now, our schools are providing a high-quality education to nearly 8000 students in 20 schools across western North Carolina. Not only are we committed to continue providing an excellent education that prepares our students for the future, but we are endeavoring to instill a greater knowledge and love for Christ in each of our students. While we want all of our students to excel academically, we are especially keen to form true disciples for Christ, who are willing and ready to spread the Gospel message in the world. With Bishop Jugis, I again extend my heartfelt thanks to all who are invested in our Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte. May each of our 20 schools continue being a beacon of hope and a bright light shining the love of Christ across the Diocese of Charlotte. Sincerely yours in Christ, Very Rev. Timothy S. Reid Vicar of Education for Catholic Schools
3 DEAR ESTEEMED CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENTS, STAKEHOLDERS, AND FAMILIES As we look back on a remarkable year in our Catholic School system across western North Carolina, I am filled with a profound sense of gratitude and hope. This year has been a testament to the continued strength, investment, and faith of our community, achieving new heights in both academic excellence and spiritual growth. We began this academic year on an inspiring note, surpassing last year’s record by welcoming an unprecedented number of students across our schools. This continued surge in enrollment stands as a clear indicator of the trust and confidence you place in us, and for that, we are deeply thankful that so many new and returning families entrust their children to us. This growth has led us to intentionally begin building strategic plans at the local school levels and welcoming more partners—parents, alumni, parishioners, and community leaders—into our local advisory teams to help our school leaders. Physically, we continue to see expansion and growth in our buildings. We have opened up a new gym (CTK), new fine arts center (CCHS), new STREAM lab (Immaculata), and OLM and OLG received grants to grow and enhance STREAM programming and to make impactful campus renovations for teachers (OLM) and for student inclusivity (OLG). Finally, the highlight of our year was welcoming in, and working alongside, our 20th school in the Diocese: Canongate Catholic High School in Arden, NC. Our commitment to nurturing not just the intellectual but also the spiritual well-being of our students has been further strengthened by the introduction of our parish and school ministry teams, Education in Virtue and Theology of the Body programs, and our school-parent covenant. This covenant, a cornerstone of our admissions and onboarding process for half of our schools across the Diocese, underscores our belief in the symbiotic relationship between families, parishes, schools, and the diocese. It reflects our dedication to supporting you, the primary educators in faith, and highlights the Church’s role in catechizing children through the ministry of our Catholic schools. FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT Dr. Gregory Monroe
4 | DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE Financially, we’ve seen remarkable growth, with the establishment of annual funds and endowments in all of our schools. This financial stability enables us to continue providing accessible Catholic education to all who desire to join our mission, and to meet a variety of learning needs, as evidenced by the continued expansion of our special needs programs. A heartfelt thanks to all of our donors, large and small, who ensure that we can keep tuition affordable and provide financial support to those who need it while also taking care of our wonderful schools’ faculty and staff. We continue to explore partnerships with community organization and members, and laid the foundation for a proprietary teacher licensure program for our educators through Belmont Abbey College. Finally, we received a tremendous honor by gaining national recognition and receiving the Catholic Institution of the Year award in New York City last April. This testament to our shared growth, pursuit of excellence in all things, and our vision of providing an immersive and authentically Catholic Culture continues to inspire and fuel our drive in our academic, faith, and co-curricular programming. This honor is one shared by all of those who work in and with our schools, and I was honored to accept the award on your behalf. As we move forward, we continue to invite your active participation in the life of our schools and parishes. Your involvement is crucial in ensuring the continued growth of our students, and fulfillment of our mission. In closing, I extend my heartfelt thanks to our priests, the Catholic Schools Office staff, and all of you for your unwavering support and dedication. Together, we are a community united in our mission to guide young minds and souls towards a future filled with wisdom, love, and the ability to change the world for the better. May God bless our continued journey. In Christ, Dr. Monroe
The Mission of Our Catholic Schools: In communion with our families and parishes, we form students to be virtuous disciples of Jesus Christ. Rooted in Scripture, Tradition, and the defined teachings of the Catholic Church, our students pursue excellence of intellect, heart, and soul with salvation as the ultimate goal. 5
The school nurtured and challenged our children while fostering our catholic values. Our children were well prepared for high school and beyond. The school community becomes family. If you are looking for a wonderful K-8 experience for your children I highly recommend the school. - Parent Review of one of our schools 6 | DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE The Diocese of Charlotte’s Catholic Schools system won the prestigious “Catholic Organization of the Year” title at the Catholic Education Foundation award ceremony. Recognizing the national excellence of Catholic institutions, the award noted the diocese’s system of 20 schools for its commitment to academic excellence, adherence to the Magisterium, promotion of Catholic identity and culture, and prioritization of authentic Catholic education centered on formation and evangelization. Both Father Timothy S. Reid, vicar of education for Catholic schools, and Dr. Greg Monroe, superintendent of Catholic schools, were recognized for their contributions. Accepting the award, Father Reid expressed gratitude to Bishop Peter Jugis for his unwavering leadership and support of Catholic education. This recognition marks a significant milestone for the diocese and its commitment to providing an exceptional Catholic education. School Year Enrollment 2018-19 6988 2019-20 6896 2020-21 7026 2021-22 7588 2022-23 7968 > DID YOU KNOW? Why Catholic Schools
7 Catholic Schools Enrollment Enrollment in Catholic schools across the Diocese of Charlotte surged since the pandemic began in 2020, and families continued to choose the robust educational experience provided at our 20 schools throughout western North Carolina. Systemwide was 7,927 students – up 4.4% from last year and 15% from the 2019-’20 school year, when the pandemic began. “Parents are choosing Catholic schools because they recognize the quality and value of our Catholic education,” said Dr. Gregory Monroe, superintendent of Catholic Schools. “They want to invest in the character, virtue and leadership development our schools instill in their children, in addition to the excellent academics and extracurricular opportunities.” The investment and affordability of Catholic education continuous to be an important goal for all schools across the diocese. In addition to internal financial aid programs, all schools participate in the NCSEAA Opportunity Scholarship programs. This program benefited 684 students in the 2022- 2023 school year. Additionally, the NCSEAA ESA+ program, which provides tuition funding for students with certain disabilities, supported 110 students this year. Immaculata School in Hendersonville remodeled 5,540 square feet of the 97-year-old school and adding 820 square feet to accommodate a growing student enrollment of more than 150 students. The construction of an entrance tower – dedicated to St. Joseph – and a new STEM lab with a lecture-style teaching space and a hands-on collaborative work and experimentation space. It also included improvements to the school’s façade, relocated administrative offices, and revamped teacher’s workroom. > DID YOU KNOW?
8 | DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE A grassroots effort over the past two years has been underway to cultivate an immersive Catholic environment, aiming to edify, form, and inspire the school community. This initiative is dedicated to continuing to build up beautiful educational facilities and so that the Catholic Faith “breathes freely.”This is accomplished through three main areas of focus: Permanent Structure Design, Rotational Displays, and Music and Vocal. • Students in Theology classes at Charlotte Catholic, along with any interested teachers, created a Lenten Prayer Chain throughout the hallways. They anonymously wrote their Lenten prayers, fasts, or alms-giving on violet paper strips, based on the three pillars of Lent and the terms of Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. • The tree metalwork on Asheville Catholic School’s new donor wall symbolizes the interconnectedness of the school community, honoring supporters’ contributions. It features John’s passage “I am the vine; you are the branches,” highlighting unity and gratitude towards the school’s benefactors. • Christ the King, in collaboration with resident artisan woodworker Mr. Stump and a Midwest artist, commissioned a stunning backdrop for all-school masses and enhanced their new gym with complementary artwork NEW PARENT COVENANT “Let’s celebrate a significant milestone in our school community that has helped to forge stronger bridges between our Diocese’s primary educators, our parents, and our schools! During the last enrollment process, we introduced a Family-Catholic School Covenant in half of our schools. This covenant is not just a document but a promise, an agreement that pledges support for our strong Catholic school ethos and welcomes your leadership in helping us fulfill our mission. This initiative is a reaffirmation of what being part of our school community means. It encourages everyone – teachers, faculty, parents, and students – to strive for the highest standards, embodying the values we cherish. While these expectations have always been an unspoken part of our culture, we chose to codify them for clarity and to establish a common language. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we believe this is a moment worth celebrating, highlighting our united journey towards not just academic, but moral and spiritual excellence.” The Catholic Immersion Initiative To read the covenant in its entirety, scan the QR code.
9 Culture & Faith With some guidance from our Ethnic Affairs coordinators, our schools celebrated various cultural aspects of our faith. Celebrations included the Epiphany, St. Nick and St. Lucy visits, Our Lady of Guadalupe apparition reenactments, Harambee Masses, Hispanic Heritage month, Black Catholic History Month, Saint Wax Museums and Processions, and many more. Highlights included food, music, dancing, flag parades, and special guests. Each Thursday for the month of March, Our Lady of the Assumption School highlighted a myriad of cultures and heritages during school Mass for their Multicultural Month Celebration. > DID YOU KNOW?
10 | DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE 11
11 Catholic Schools Fast Facts 100% GRADUATION RATE FROM OUR 4 HIGH SCHOOLS CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 35,000 + COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS THOLIC SCHOOLS CATHOLIC FAITH Our Catholic identity is integrated into all that we do, from our Academics to the Arts and Athletics. All are welcome to join our faith-filled classrooms as we participate together in Holy Mass, daily prayer and spiritual development. Our intentional Christian community models Christ’s love in the way we interact with each other and pursue excellence together. 20+ DIFFERENT ATHLETIC OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS OUR 20 SCHOOLS STATE OF THE ART STEM LABS & MAKERSPACES ACROSS THE DIOCESE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TUITION ASSISTANCE Our schools are accessible: Over two million dollars in tuition assistance is available to families in our schools. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS MUSIC, ART, DRAMA, CLUBS, & ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT Students across all grade levels are exposed to a wide range of classes in the Arts and enrichment opportunities. The campus of Charlotte Catholic High School is home to a custom designed fine arts center equipped with leading edge technology allowing for unique learning opportunities and staged performances open to students throughout our 20 schools. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 6 LEARNING PROGRAMS ACROSS THE DIOCESE PROVIDING PATHWAYS FROM K TO COLLEGE Henderson Buncombe Mecklenburg Rowan Forsyth Guilford 20 SCHOOLS 11 CITIES Empowering minds across the Diocese since 1927 700 + TEACHER MINISTERS 7,500 + STUDENTS 6 COUNTIES
12 | DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE Students, Faculty, and Staff STUDENTS Our students become leaders in all aspects of their lives. Through our academic programs and extracurricular activities, we foster the development of leadership skills such as self-motivation, accountability, and work ethic that will set the foundation for future accomplishments. Students who attend our schools not only excel academically, they become team captains, youth group leaders, Eucharistic ministers, student council members, and much more. You will take pride in your child as they lead in the classroom, on the stage, on the athletic fields, in the community, and anywhere their passion drives them. TEACHERS Our talented faculty and staff have a passion for learning and student development. They create a climate in their classroom to best meet the individual student needs to ensure success. NURTURE Every child is given equal opportunity to excel. All 20 schools in our system provide learning support initiatives to meet the educational needs of all students. Four special learning programs are offered: • Matthew Morgan Program (MMP) tailored for students with Down Syndrome • Modified Academic Program (MAP) • Providing Academically Appropriate Catholic Education (PACE) • Quest program (availability varies between schools) tailored for students with autism. • Options Designed for exceptional students who need an individualized, modified academic curriculum Class of 2023 SAT Scores Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School Evidence Based Reading & Writing 602 Math 605 Cannongate Catholic High School Evidence Based Reading & Writing 613 Math 600 Christ the King High School Evidence Based Reading & Writing 604 Math 579 North Carolina Evidence Based Reading & Writing 570 Math 557 United States Evidence Based Reading & Writing 520 Math 508 > DID YOU KNOW?
13 Bolstering Academic Confidence Our students had a chance to test their spelling and reading skills with two events coordinated by the Catholic Schools Office and held in the Fine Arts Center at Charlotte Catholic High School, newly opened in 2022. Several students from our Catholic schools competed a spelling bee in January, with the winner going on to the Independent District Level Spelling Bee. In April, several of our diocesan schools sent students, to compete in the first-ever St. Jerome Book Battle. This reading competition is unique to the diocese of Charlotte and was created to encourage students to read good books, whether classic or modern, and that usually reinforce lessons taught in the Education in Virtue program taught throughout our schools. The book battle consists of two separate competitions: one for teams comprised of readers in 4th and 5th grade, and another for teams comprised of readers in 6th-8th grade. After reading from a select list of fifteen titles, teams representing their school then answer questions in a quiz-bowl style competition.
14 | DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE GIVING BACK In partnership with the diocese’s Development Office, Catholic schools held annual funds and continued a variety of other efforts to build financial support. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, families and donors embraced the call for philanthropic support – setting a record in annual giving. Fifteen Catholic schools held annual fund campaigns with a record number of 1,785 donors contributing nearly $1.2 million. It was the first such annual fund for eight of those schools. When accounting for all types of funding options – annual funds, endowments, special events, and other restricted gifts – donors gave roughly $3.3 million in the most recent fiscal year – also a record in donor directed giving for Catholic schools. The Diocese of Charlotte Catholic Schools offer servant leadership opportunities to encourage compassionate community involvement. > DID YOU KNOW? Philanthropy Efforts
15 CHARLOTTE CATHOLIc HIGH ScHOOL City: Charlotte Mascot: Cougar charlottecatholic.org AsHEVILLE CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Asheville Mascot: Panther ashevillecatholic.org CHRIsT THE KING CATHOLIc HIGH ScHOOL City: Huntersville Mascot: Crusader ctkchs.org IMMAcULATE HEART OF MARY CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: High Point Mascot: Eagles ihm-school.com OUR LADY OF THE AssUMPTION CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Charlotte Mascot: Phoenix olacatholic.org ST. GABRIEL CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Charlotte Mascot: Jaguar stgabrielcatholicschool.org ST. LEO CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Winston-Salem Mascot: Lions stleocatholic.com SAcRED HEART CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Salisbury Mascot: Dolphin salisburycatholicschool.org ST. PATRIck CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Charlotte Mascot: Leprechaun saintpatrickschool.org ST. PIUs X CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Greensboro Mascot: Comet spxschool.com ST. MIcHAEL CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Gastonia Mascot: Tiger stmichaelcs.com ST. MATTHEW CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Charlotte Mascot: Wildcat stmattwildcats.com HOLY TRINITY CATHOLIc MIDDLE ScHOOL City: Charlotte Mascot: Bulldog htcms.org OUR LADY OF MERcY CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Winston-Salem Mascot: Mustang ourladyofmercyschool.org IMMAcULATA CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Hendersonville Mascot: Stars immac.org OUR LADY OF GRAcE CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Greensboro Mascot: Panther olgsch.org BIsHOP McGUINNEss CATHOLIc HIGH ScHOOL City: Kernersville Mascot: Villain bmhs.us CatholicSt. GaOUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION CATHOLIC SCHOOL ST. ANN CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Charlotte Mascot: Saint stanncatholic.org CANONGATE CATHOLIc HIGH ScHOOL City: Arden Mascot: canongatecatholic.org Our Schools ST. MARk CATHOLIc ScHOOL City: Huntersville Mascot: Lion stmarkcatholicschool.net