NOVEMBER 12, 2008

            For the third time in five years, Lake Michigan Catholic High School has been named to the National Catholic High School Honor Roll, distinguishing the institution as one of the top fifty Catholic high schools in the United States.

            To be named to the honor roll, schools must demonstrate excellence in academics, civic education and Catholic identity, attributes that Catholic educators consider fundamental to preparing students to live their faith in the world.  Nearly 300 schools applied for recognition in 2008.

            “It is an honor to be recognized again as one of the country’s top fifty Catholic high schools, especially because competition increases with each year,” says John Berlin, executive director of Lake Michigan Catholic Schools.  “The Lake Michigan Catholic family is well aware of the great things going on in our school system, and this honor provides public acknowledgment of those endeavors.”

What makes this honor special, Berlin notes, is that “it comes from an organization that understands our distinct mission as a Catholic school.”

With an emphasis on a strong core curriculum, faith development and community service, Lake Michigan Catholic challenges students at every grade level to grow intellectually and spiritually, and to apply what is acquired in the classroom in ways that reflect Catholic social teaching on issues of justice and peace.  “As a result,” says Berlin, “students not only perform consistently well academically, they actively engage in church and community activities with local and global impact, which enriches their preparation for future vocations.”

The National Catholic High School Honor Roll, open to all of the nation’s 1,300 Catholic high schools, is an independent project of the Acton Institute, of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Established in 2004, the Honor Roll receives guidance from a distinguished Board of Advisors that comprises presidents and administrators from such revered institutions as the Pontifical College Josephinum, the University of Notre Dame, Catholic University of America, and Creighton and Gonzaga universities.

The National Catholic High School Honor Roll announcement is another in a string of outstanding achievements for Lake Michigan Catholic in 2008.  The school recently announced that the graduating Class of 2009 excelled in the Michigan Merit Exam, outperforming peers from all area school districts in every category of the exam.  Earlier in the year, elementary and middle school students turned in similar performances in Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) testing, attaining the area’s highest scores in fifteen of the twenty-two grade-level categories tested and top-six rankings in the remainder.

Lake Michigan Catholic Schools are heir to a century old legacy of Catholic education in southwestern Michigan and exist as an essential part of the mission of the Roman Catholic Church.  The school system serves families throughout southwest Michigan, providing a quality education for students of preschool age through grade 12 and offering uncommonly broad extracurricular athletics and fine arts programs among schools of comparable size.  Nearly all of Lake Michigan Catholic’s graduates go on to college, each earning an average $23,000 in scholarship awards over the past two years.   For additional information about the schools, visit www.lmclakers.org or call 269-983-2511.