COLORADO SPRINGS. Crisp uniforms are on order, stacked boxes yield fresh textbooks, and new lockers line the hall as Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Walsingham prepares for the first day of its inaugural year. This classical Catholic high school, located on the campus of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, welcomes students Sept. 7.

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. Divine Redeemer School is one of the schools in our diocese that has joined the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education’s network of Classic Catholic Liberal Arts Schools for the 2021-22 school year. This month, Divine Redeemer will begin to integrate some of the premise of the classical approach to education into our curriculum and our culture, beginning with the content of curriculum based in history and paired with a study of Latin.

(Editor’s Note: Following is the second installment of a series on St. Mary’s High School’s new theology curriculum and other new course offerings. Information sessions on St. Mary’s will take place June 13 at St. Patrick Parish after the 5 p.m. Mass, at St. Peter Parish in Monument on June 20 after the 10:30 a.m. Mass, and at St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish on June 27 after the 10 a.m. Mass.)

COLORADO SPRINGS. Sheila Whalen, previously the principal of St. Peter School in Monument, was named Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Colorado Springs effective July 1. She replaces Holly Goodwin, who is retiring.

COLORADO SPRINGS. In recent months, St. Mary’s High School has been undergoing a process of  updating its curriculum, organizational structure and other aspects of the school in order to better position it for future success. Following is an explanation of how St. Mary’s has revised its theology curriculum:

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.

Getting kids into heaven — that is how Deacon Rob Rysavy, the president of St. Mary’s High School, explained the goal of Catholic education in a conversation recently. 

His characterization brought to mind an experience I had earlier in April in the gymnasium at Divine Redeemer School. Catholic Charities of Central Colorado had been chosen as the recipient of the Extreme Lenten Project to collect toiletry items for our community’s poor and vulnerable.