COLORADO SPRINGS. After an extraordinary year of learning to educate during a global pandemic, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Colorado Springs are excited to welcome their students back to campus in person for the 2021-2022 school year. School administrators have worked with health guidance experts to develop a plan for the year that addresses the students’ mental, emotional and physical health.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Building on a solid foundation, rooted in tradition while leaning into the future, describes the upcoming 2021-2022 school year at St. Mary’s High School. Two academic tracks have been created to ensure that St. Mary’s is fulfilling its mission of preparing students for both college and life.

COLORADO SPRINGS. For St. Mary’s High School, what started off as a challenge has turned into a tremendous opportunity. In 2020, the school’s Gala Committee had four weeks to move its annual live event online when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live events. With social distancing requirements still firmly in place in 2021, the Gala Committee planned this year’s event, which was held on April 10, to be virtual, and what resulted was the most successful gala in the school’s history.

COLORADO SPRINGS. For St. Mary’s High School boys basketball coach Jim Masterson, basketball is more than a game — it’s a way to teach faith. The motto of the team is “win or lose, give glory to God.” That idea was tested this year as the team experienced an undefeated season that carried them to the state championship game only to lose in the title game. While the disappointment of the defeat still stings, Masterson and his team are grounded in faith and looking toward the future.

COLORADO SPRINGS. One week ago marked one-year since St. Mary’s High School was last together as a whole community. On March 29, St. Mary’s will return to full in-person instruction with students and teachers on campus five days a week. It will have been 54 weeks and three days — 381 days total — since the pandemic forced the school into the “new normal” of combining in-person and online instruction.

COLORADO SPRINGS. When the Klein family moved to the Colorado Springs area in 2011 from Indiana, they had only one year in the local Catholic education community before their oldest daughter, Lucy, entered St. Mary’s. They made some connections during that one year with their children attending St. Paul Cahtolic School, but their community was small and high school would be a new experience for the family.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Empowered by Knowledge. The second part of St. Mary’s High School’s identity focuses on knowledge. Since its inception in 1885, St. Mary’s has been providing excellence in education for the Colorado Springs community.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Catholic education in Colorado Springs offers parents quality academics with a foundation in faith that will guide students for life. In the coming months and years, that commitment to excellence will only improve with the signing of a Strategic Alliance agreement between St. Mary’s High School and the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Inspired by Faith. Everything at St. Mary’s High School is inspired by faith. The theological foundation that the school helps build in its students is one of the many reasons that families choose St. Mary’s for their children’s high school education.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Dreaming big requires sacrifice. Maryn Pierce, a senior at St. Mary’s High School, knew this before the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, but it is a lesson that has reared its head again and again over the last several months. Despite the constant adjustments, Pierce continues to pursue her dream of standing on the podium at the US Figure Skating Championships.

COLORADO SPRINGS. When St. Mary’s High School staff started planning the 44th Annual Golf Classic a few months ago, no one really knew what to expect. So much is different since March, as this year has brought changes to daily life that no one could have anticipated. Those changes have made it hard to use the metrics from past years to anticipate anything. So as the number of golfers continued to grow, the St. Mary’s staffers were surprised and excited.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Mid-August is fast approaching, and with it comes the rhythm of back-to-school activities. Schools across the nation are grappling with how best to approach the start of the 2020-2021 school year as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect how we live our daily lives. The faculty and staff at St. Mary’s High School have been working all summer to prepare for the new year and the challenges it may bring.

COLORADO SPRINGS. St. Mary’s High School speech and debate team members Ben Bodnar and Daniel Zill had one goal going into the 2019-2020 season — qualify for nationals. That goal had been set last year, when they narrowly missed qualifying for the 2019 National Speech and Debate Tournament. The first weekend in March 2020 Bodnar and Zill accomplished their goal, finishing first in the region in duo interpretation at the Colorado Grande District NSDA National Qualifying Tournament. A week later the world began to change.