Catholic schools thriving in area
Roman Catholic schools in Central Florida have been growing, bucking the national trend of declining Catholicschool enrollment.
That news has won the Orlando Diocese praise during the National Catholic Education Association convention in Orlando this week. The diocese also got a boost from the announcement that the University of Notre Dame will work with four urban Catholic schools in Central Florida to help them grow and improve.
The 42 schools in the diocese have added about 600 students in the past three years. Nationwide, Catholic schools have lost about 31,000 students in the past year, the smallest loss in a decade.
The Diocese of Orlando serves 14,213 students in eight
counties. Nearly three-quarters of the schools are elementaries or K-8s.
“There’s a desire here for Catholic schools,” said Brother Robert Bimonte, president of the National Catholic Education Association.
About 19.1 million students are enrolled in Catholic schools nationwide. The pockets of growth are centered in the South and Southwest, Bimonte said.
“As people have moved to the South, which is not a traditional Catholic area, they sought Catholic schools,” Bimonte said.
Families moving from Northern states have brought some new students, said Jacquelyn Flanigan, associate superintendent of Catholic schools for the Orlando Diocese. But most growth has been homegrown, especially among black, Hispanic and non-Catholic students. Hundreds of new students use state vouchers to pay tuition.
“We’re seeing diversity grow,’’ said Flanigan, who said broadening access to Catholic schools is “a socialjustice issue.” More parents “have the opportunity to bring their children to a highquality education they might not otherwise have had.”
On Tuesday, the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education announced that it is adding four local schools to its ACE Academies program. The partnership offers help, in the form of professional development and a hands-on academic coach, to schools in low-income communities.
The goal is to both improve academics and draw in more students, said Rodney Pierre-Antoine, program director. The schools — St. Andrew Catholic School in Orange County, Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Osceola County and the Basilica School of St. Paul and Lourdes Academy in Volusia County — will join five other schools already in the program from the St. Petersburg and Tucson, Ariz., dioceses.
The Orlando Diocese has been in the spotlight throughout the convention, which ends today. Every local Catholic school created an oversized postcard to greet visitors in the hallways of the Orange County Convention Center.
Each attendee received a handwritten welcome postcard from a local student. The cards included messages such as, “I hope you learn a lot!”
This is the first time the convention has been held in Florida.
Patrick Lofton, executive vice president of the National Catholic Education Association, visited three Orlando diocesan schools this year.
“I walked away very impressed with the quality of education that happens in those schools but also the inclusion, the diversity and the sense of welcome,” he said. “The things that are happening in this diocese are models for other parts of the country.”