National Catholic Schools Week (January 28 to February 3) is an annual time to celebrate the transformative impact of Catholic education on countless children across the country.
The Catholic University of America’s Institute for the Transformation of Catholic Education (ITCE) marked the occasion by announcing that 187 schools in six dioceses joined as new members of the Lumen Accreditation program, the first Catholic national accreditation for Catholic schools. This expands the number of schools Lumen serves to 280 in six states.
The six newly-announced dioceses — Charlotte, Shreveport, Lafayette-in-Indiana, Indianapolis, Providence, and Evansville — will enter the second phase of the six-year cycle toward accreditation. In this new phase, Lumen will accompany school leadership to set a course for continuous improvement ahead of an evaluation to determine if the accreditation will be granted. Accreditation is formally granted by The Catholic University of America, the only national university of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Daryl Hagan, ITCE director who leads Lumen, said the rapid growth since the Lumen program launched last year demonstrates a growing desire for tools to help people identify PK-12 institutions that are meeting and exceeding standards for academic excellence and faith formation rooted in the teachings of the Church.
“This is a ministry that is needed. There is a renewal and transformation of Catholic education in the United States. And I believe ITCE is part of the answer for this renewal,” said Hagan.
Lumen is one of several initiatives by The Institute for the Transformation of Catholic Education, which is committed to advancing the distinctive excellence of Catholic education as a gift for each person and for society through programs and resources for the nation's PK-12 Catholic schools.