The earliest years of schooling: For your child, this is when many of the most basic habits, behaviors, and intuitions are formed, and so you want to entrust them to the best possible care, in the best possible learning environment.
Grounded in prayer, Catholic preschools ensure that what’s most important is front and center in our youngest students’ everyday experiences. With their classmates and on their own, they learn to turn to God throughout the day, in moments of peace, quiet, happiness, anger, confusion, and everything else. In many of the schools in our alliance, this approach includes the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a curriculum which is rooted in the Bible, the liturgy of the Church, and the Montessori Method of Education, helping children from the youngest ages cultivate devotion and relationship with God.
Choosing Catholic education right from the start will have benefits throughout your child’s life. Research shows Catholic school students are 7-8 times more likely to attend Sunday Mass. Catholic education truly does matter for the soul.
Additionally, the Nation’s Report Card shows Catholic school students across the country outperform their peers in core subjects like math, science, reading, and technology and engineering literacy. We see in our students’ standardized assessment results that this outperformance difference grows the longer a student is in Catholic education.
Because our schools have a beautiful gift to offer, we want to make Catholic education as accessible as possible. Our alliance of Catholic schools was recently honored with the Champion of Inclusive Community award from All Belong Center for Inclusive Education. Additionally, through our Student Support Services Network, we strive to ensure our alliance is equipped to serve students with various exceptionalities and provide them the best possible faith-forming education.
The preschool years are where your child will make connections and build skills they will need for the rest of their life. While forming friendships with God, teachers, and their fellow classmates, they need the best possible guidance and care in a safe, secure environment. We know this, which is why we are happy to offer God’s children an educational home in our Catholic schools. Contact us here to learn more about enrolling your child.
Catholic schools in the Diocese of Grand Rapids are an alliance of 31 vibrant learning communities (26 elementary and five high schools) serving more than 6,000 preschool through 12th grade students throughout West Michigan. Our schools inspire young people to grow in Catholic faith and grace, achieve more in school and life, develop creativity and character, and feel welcomed and cherished for their unique gifts. We partner with parents to awaken the whole child to a world of light and life — that grows better and brighter when children reach their potential.
Pictured: A spring 2019 file photo from St. Robert Catholic School.