Consider a Catholic Education for Your Children

Greetings in Christ!

A Catholic education is among the best gifts parents can give their children. By making a Catholic education your priority, you witness to your children that your faith is the basis on which you make decisions for their well-being, and you demonstrate that the Lord is the center of your lives and the foundation on which your home is built.

The Diocese of Lansing’s Catholic school system exists to support you in educating your children and instilling in them the Truth of the Catholic faith. The purpose of a Catholic education goes beyond merely preparing students for college or careers. At our 33 schools, students grow in faith, knowledge and service.

Grounded in strong and obvious Catholic identity, each of our schools is committed to developing the whole person, nurturing successful students who also are faithful followers of Christ and servant leaders in their communities. We invite you to learn more about the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Lansing, find a school near you, and enroll your children for the coming school year.

May God bless you and your families!

+Most Rev. Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing

Tuition Assistance Program

The Catholic Diocese of Lansing announces Tuition Assistance Program for Kindergarten to 12th grade.

About our school system

Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Lansing

Affording the Choice of Catholic Education

The Diocese of Lansing and each of its 32 schools share the belief that a Catholic education should be available, accessible and affordable to any family that wants to provide their children with a quality education in a strong, Catholic environment.

Our schools deliver an exceptional education at remarkably low and affordable rates; however, the decision to enroll your children in a Catholic school inherently will involve sacrifices on the part of every family. Ultimately, families who commit to Catholic education for their children do so because it is their priority to provide a learning community that supports the faith and values taught in the home.

Many families need and receive financial assistance for Catholic school tuition. For 2018-2019, we distributed more than $400,000 in scholarship funds. The Diocese of Lansing Scholarship program is a need-based assistance program. Need is determined by an independent, third party service, F.A.C.T.S., which makes its assessment based on income and tax information. However, the FACTS application does have a section that offers the family to list any changes in their financial situation, and these may be taken into consideration by the individual schools.

The Diocese of Lansing grant is for grades K-12.  The grant is $750.00 for grades K-8, and a $1000.00 grant grades 9-12^th.
 

Tuition Assistance Program Grant criteria:

• Family must apply through FACTS by March 1, 2019
• Student must show a financial need of at least $750.00
• The student must be Catholic, attend a Diocese of Lansing school, and belong to a parish in the Diocese of Lansing

Other types of scholarships and grants also are available, depending on the school or parish. Families are urged to meet with the tuition advisor of the school in which they intend to enroll so that all avenues to financial assistance can be explored.

The Saint Katherine Drexel Scholarship:

The Saint Katherine Drexel Scholarship aims to increase the number of Catholic minority teachers among school staff. It will help towards tuition costs for Catholic persons of color who wish to transition into teaching within a Catholic school via the State of Michigan’s Teachers of Tomorrow program. The value of tuition assistance will be up to $2,500. That’s 50% of the tuition. Its patroness is Saint Katharine Drexel (1858 – 1955), the great pioneer of educational advancement for Native Americans and African Americans. It will be launched for the 2020-21 school year.

The Venerable Augustus Tolton Scholarship:

The Venerable Augustus Tolton Scholarship is aimed at increasing the number of Catholic African American students in the Diocese of Lansing’s Catholic schools. It will operate under the patronage of Venerable Augustus Tolton (1854 – 97), a former slave who became the first African American priest in the United States. This tuition assistance is need-based and is worth up to $500 a year. It will launch in the 2020-21 school year.

Applying for Financial Aid

There is a $30.00 fee payable to FACTS through their online application process.  Applicants can complete the online form by clicking the FACTS link here:  https://online.factsmgt.com/aid

The link will be available December 1, 2018 and will close March 1, 2019.  The deadline for applications is March 1, 2019.  After March 1, 2019 please contact your school directly. Once the FACTS online form has been completed, the following information will need to be submitted to FACTS online, by fax, or mail to complete the financial assistance process:

    Copies of your most recent Federal tax forms including all supporting tax schedules and W2’s.
    Copies of supporting documentation for Social Security Income, Welfare, Child Support, Food Stamps, Workers’ Compensation, and TANF.

All supporting documentation can be uploaded online through the FACTS online form or can be faxed to 1-866-315-9264 or mailed to the address below.  Please be sure to include the applicant ID on all faxed or mailed correspondence.

FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment
P.O. Box 82524
Lincoln, NE  68501-2524

If you have questions about the financial assistance process through FACTS, you may speak with a FACTS Customer Care Representative at 1-866-441-4637 or Diocese of Lansing, Financial Aid Advisor,  Mrs. Renee Fischman at 517-267-2107.

Find a Catholic School Near You

Curriculum

The curriculum in the Diocese of Lansing Catholic Schools is based in research and results-proven standards of instructional practice and is guaranteed and viable.  We consider standards established where achievement and rigor is significantly higher than average when revising or creating diocesan standards.  Faith integration is embedded in the work of all areas of curriculum, utilizing the Catholic Curriculum Standards offered by the Cardinal Newman Society.  Standards for religion are based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

We are committed to going beyond merely preparing our students for college, and continuously look for ways to partner with families to help children to become intentional Disciples of Christ. To do this, we are committed to teaching every subject matter from the perspective of faith. Because of our non-public school status, we have the freedom to create our own research-based curriculum, and not adopt the Common Core State Standards. We are currently making a thorough review of our curriculum and working to develop curricular standards and content expectations that will help us better fulfill our mission and meet our students’ academic and spiritual needs.

For specific subject-area standards that guide teachers in instructing our students, click here.

Accreditation

All 32 schools of the Diocese of Lansing are accredited every five years through the Michigan Non-Public Schools Accreditation Association (MNSAA). Accreditation is based on the National Catholic School Standards.

Assessments

The Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Lansing are committed to use assessments for the purpose of informing parents about their student’s growth and performance levels, improving teaching and learning, and providing trend data for review and revision of curriculum.  The tools used for such analysis include the Northwest Evaluation Association Measure of Progress (NWEA-MAP), Aspire, and ACT.

Diocesan schools’ students excel in academics while developing spiritually to become future leaders of our society. 

These include:

Average ACT scores across four high schools: 23.7

• (National average: 21, State of Michigan average 20.1)

Average third grade math level: 84% advanced/proficient

• (National average: 40% proficient)

Average third grade reading level: 91% advanced/proficient

• (National average: 36% proficient)

• (National average: 34% proficient)

Average eighth grade reading level: 81% advanced/proficient

• (National average: 34% proficient)

 Average score on 8th grade Diocesan Theology Exam

• 17% = 98%+  41% = 90-98%  29% = 80-90%

About our Catholic High Schools

The Diocese of Lansing operates four regional, comprehensive, co-educational high schools in Ann Arbor, Flint, Jackson and Lansing, each with unique histories and traditions, but all grounded in one mission:
That Jesus Christ is the reason for these schools, the unseen but ever-present teacher in all its classes, the model of its faculties, and the inspiration for its students.

Lansing Catholic High School

Founded as Lansing Catholic Central High School in 1970, Lansing Catholic brought together the traditions, culture, and alumni of four original schools: St. Mary’s High School (founded in 1904), Resurrection High School (founded in 1939), Msgr. John W. O’Rafferty High School and Msgr. John H. Gabriels High School (both founded in 1963), which consolidated to the former Gabriels campus, where Lansing Catholic remains today. In 2015, the school completed the first phase of a long-term construction and renovation plan that included the opening of its new St. John Paul II Chapel. Lansing Catholic serves 535 students from the Greater Lansing and Mid-Michigan areas.

Lumen Christi Catholic School

Founded in 1968 to serve the varied educational needs of Catholic youth in the city of Jackson, Lumen Christi Catholic School is committed to the mission of cultivating the whole person, spiritually, mentally, physically, socially and psychologically, to develop in each person an understanding of his or her responsibilities to God, themselves, their families, and the larger community. Beginning in the 2015-2106 school year, Lumen Christi expanded from grades 9-12 to include grades 7 and 8 from the Jackson Catholic Middle School, now housed in one, fully-renovated 172,700 square foot facility.

Powers Catholic High School

Founded in 1970, Powers Catholic High School in Flint, enrolls more than 650 students from its five-county region, and is committed to a tradition of diversity that enables qualified students from all walks of life to obtain an excellent Catholic secondary education. Relocated in 2015 to the fully-renovated former Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind, Powers Catholic now occupies an historical educational facility situated high on a hill overlooking 57 pristine acres of wooded property, just west of downtown Flint. A $15 million investment restored Fay Hall and added 75,000 square feet of space, including a gymnasium, chapel, library, theater and media center.

Fr. Gabriel Richard Catholic High School

Founded in 1868 and operating for a century as St. Thomas the Apostle School, Fr. Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor, traces its roots to the earliest missions of the Catholic Church in Michigan. In 1980, the school split into an elementary school, which retains the name St. Thomas the Apostle School, and a high school, which was named for Fr. Gabriel Richard, the missionary priest whose legacy includes establishing the first Catholic Church in Michigan in 1701. Relocated in 2003 to its current home adjacent to the pastoral grounds of Domino’s Farms, Fr. Gabriel Richard High School in 2008 was added to Top 50 List of best Catholic high schools in the nation and has been included for seven consecutive years.