Catholic schools, parishes carry on shared missions

Catholic Schools Week Jan. 28 – Feb. 3


Wade Laffey offers a vital view on the coupling of Catholic parishes and schools, particularly in urban or smaller rural areas: don’t underestimate their connection.

As principal at Saint Mary Catholic School in Ponca City, Laffey regularly sees how the school and Saint Mary Catholic Church are tightly intertwined.

“The parish would be lost if there were no school,” Laffey said. “The parish would lose its main evangelical means.”

With the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City celebrating Catholic Schools Week Jan. 28 – Feb. 3, it’s easy to connect the teaching, from elementary age through high school, as a shared mission of educating the youngest generations to maintain a strong Catholic faith as they mature into adults.

Saint Mary Catholic School has been teaching students in Ponca City for more than 100 years and stands as an integral part of the community.

“Saint Mary Catholic School is an institution in Ponca City,” Laffey said. “It has been here 123 years, with the sole purpose of serving the parish and community in general. Saint Mary Catholic Church and School are united in mission, united in purpose.”

One of the ways the parish and school are intertwined in Ponca City is through financial donations and support, which greatly help families as well as teachers. The biggest fundraiser is the Fall Fest each October, which draws people from across the community to celebrate Saint Mary Catholic School.

“The Fall Fest is not just a school event, it is definitely a parish and school event as well,” Laffey said. “Even if the funding goes to the school, the parish sees it as a parish celebration.”

Saint Joseph Catholic School in Enid serves four parishes: Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church and Saint Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Enid, as well as Saint Joseph Catholic Churches in Bison and Hennessey.

Serving four parishes reflects a dedication of area families to Catholic education.

“We’re in a rural area, so a lot of families are rural families,” principal Fred Martin said. “We provide a means for the kids to receive a Catholic education.”

For the families, Martin said, it isn’t just about education, but also making connections on a deeper level. The school currently has 122 enrolled students, an increase from last year.

“What we allow them to do is have community they wouldn’t have otherwise,” Martin said. “They made the education of the youth a priority. We had 114 last year; the demand (for Catholic education) is growing. I think it speaks really well of the Enid Catholic community.”

Sacred Heart Catholic School in El Reno currently has 112 students, three more than last school year. Although El Reno may be considered a suburb of Oklahoma City, Sacred Heart Catholic School still maintains a small-town atmosphere.

“It’s the fact we’re a Catholic school in El Reno, and we offer Jesus to students in the El Reno area. We’re a family, so we’re really a family school,” said principal Shannon Statton. “We just get to know Jesus together and share it together as a family.”

The school had closed for financial reasons but reopened 30 years later in 1995 to return Catholic education to El Reno.

“We had (sisters) that ran the school, and when they had to make the decision to switch to lay teachers, it became financially hard, so we made the decision to close the school,” Statton said. 

Local families, however, wanted to bring the school back.

“We had a group of parents who decided to have the opportunity for the students to have Catholic education, so they got together with the priest, and decided to reopen the school,” she said.

Sacred Heart initially reopened with preschool and has grown to now offer classes through sixth grade. Reopening the school offered another option for education in El Reno.

“I feel like it gives an opportunity for our parents to have a choice in our community,” she said.

Whether a school reopened or has always been a part of a community, Catholic Schools Week can highlight what a Catholic education means for the community.

“The Catholic faith is important, and you need children to be well-formed in their faith,” Martin said. “The Catholic Church is the foundation to western civilization, and without it we lose that.”

Everett Brazil, III is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.