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June 26, 2025Summer has arrived and students and staff in our archdiocesan Catholic schools are taking a much-needed and much-deserved break, given the success of the just-concluded school year.
I want to commend our students, faculty, administrators and school pastors on their work this year and for the many accomplishments they have achieved in our 18 schools across the archdiocese.
It is not a secret; Catholic schools are thriving in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City! It has been a joy to witness! Students are praying, serving, learning, achieving and performing in a variety of ways and at admirable levels.
Baptisms, First Reconciliations, First Holy Communions and Confirmations were special events for many of our students and their families this past school year. Each will remember and look fondly upon these special days and hopefully remember the unending love that God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – has for each of them. May they remember their importance to the world, and to body of Christ, his Church.
Students and their families took up the invitation to encounter Christ, form a relationship, and bring him to the world, making disciples. It was wonderful to see the number of students going above and beyond what was required to serve others in their community as well as the outpouring of support for the students from families, volunteers and community businesses.
This is the evangelizing mission of the Church, and by extension our schools. They are taking it to heart.
In all, 326 of our Catholic high school graduates are now heading off to seminary, the military, workforce or to college, all well-formed for the next stage of their life. The sheer number of college scholarships received, including those by our national merit finalists and semi-finalists, is a testament to the hard work of the students, their parents and dedicated teachers.
Achievements in sports, robotics, drama, speech, music and art illustrate the well-rounded nature of the curriculum and our students’ success in mastering it.
At each of our 15 elementary schools, 256 eighth-grade students graduated from parish schools with many of those moving on to a Catholic high school.
Talent abounds in the lower grades and was demonstrated through archdiocesan level competition in the spelling bee, National History Day and The Fine Arts Expo, where art, music, speech and drama were showcased for the community. This is just a bit of the good news, as each school has its own site-based achievements to add to this list.
It has been a year of strong growth. Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City are more affordable than for any family seeking a Catholic education for their child. More than 300 students came into archdiocesan schools for the first time this past year.
Due to school choice efforts of the state legislature over the past few years – including the Parental Choice Tax Credit, the Catholic School Opportunity Fund and the Lindsay Nicole Henry Scholarship – opportunities to fund Catholic education continue to grow and expand to meet the needs of families.
Next year promises to see even more new faces in our schools and we look forward to welcoming them.
May God continue to bless all associated with Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City: the students and their families and the administration, faculty, staff and volunteers who serve with them. The future of the Church and Catholic education in Oklahoma indeed appears to be bright!