By Patrick Haggarty

With the arrival of January, it is time for parents to begin considering which school their child will attend next year. This is particularly true for parents of children entering kindergarten, sixth or ninth grade. In Kalispell, Browning, Butte, Missoula and their surrounding areas, I encourage parents to consider choosing their local Catholic school.

Why choose a Catholic school? The reasons are compelling.

Spiritually Centered Environment

Our Catholic schools offer parents the opportunity for their children to spend more than 1,000 hours each year in an educational atmosphere that is nurturing and faith-filled. Every student is invited to find value and spiritual meaning in life through prayer, liturgy and sacramental celebration.

Leadership and Academic Excellence

Our school leadership is professional, enthusiastic and devoted to the mission and purpose of the school. Our leaders are committed to bring the highest quality educational values to the school, and their high expectations foster an environment that allows each student to attain full potential on all levels. High academic achievement and success are expected and achieved.

Faculty and Support Staff

As the integral part of a Catholic school, our faculty and our support staff are dedicated to their educational vocation. The supermajority of our teachers are professional educators with teaching licenses. They are alert to factors that motivate student learning. They are experts at pursuing and finding avenues that will enhance student knowledge to meet the expectations of the future.

Safe Environment

Jesus Christ is the reason for our schools. He is the unseen but ever-present teacher in everything we do. All children attending a Catholic school are welcome to participate in a learning atmosphere that will not tolerate neglect, bullying or harassment. Children can learn in a safe environment where our code of conduct is valued and enforced. Nurturing young minds and their safety are matters that we take to heart deeply.

Parental Involvement

Educational research supports the fact that parental involvement in a child’s learning is the key indicator of how much a child learns. In that light, Catholic schools not only embrace parental involvement; we require it. Each school offers many opportunities for parents to be involved in their child’s school life, from assisting in day-to-day activities to representing the school on community committees. We recognize that the more our staff and parents work together, the higher the academic achievement of our students.

In the next several weeks, our diocesan Catholic schools will begin enrolling children. Beginning at the end of the month, each Catholic school will be celebrating National Catholic Schools Week. For those parents who have the opportunity to choose a school for their children, I invite you to investigate and explore your local Catholic school during this week, where you will find an institution celebrating the Good News of Jesus Christ.

To whom will parents entrust their loved ones for more than 1,000 hours each year? This decision may well be one of the most important and lasting decisions parents make for their children. In the deliberation process, they will be thankful to know that in many regions of our diocese, there is a Catholic school—a place where everyone is aware of the living presence of Jesus who, today as always, is with us in our journey through life as the one genuine teacher who dictates all we do. I invite parents to spend time looking at St. Joseph, Loyola Sacred Heart, Butte Central, St. Matthew’s and De LaSalle Blackfeet Catholic schools as the place that will support the family and provide an outstanding, Christ-centered, learning environment for their child’s future.


Patrick Haggarty, Ed.D., is the superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Helena. His e-mail address is phaggarty@diocesehelena.org.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 1, January 22, 2010.