GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Sept. 8, 2005) The Catholic High School Honor Roll today announced the second annual selection of its best 50 secondaryschools in America. Building on the success of last year's program,this year's Honor Roll will continue to serve as an invaluable resourcefor students, parents and benefactors. By recognizing the nation's top50 high schools, the Honor Roll promotes quality Catholic secondaryeducation.
More than half of the Honor Rollschools are repeat performers from last year. Honorees include co-ed,male and female schools, and ranged from the 24-student Holy RosaryAcademy in Anchorage, Alaska, to St. Thomas Aquinas High School in FortLauderdale, Florida with more than 2,100 students. The state of Floridaled the way with seven schools selected, followed by Texas and New York(6 each) and Pennsylvania and Illinois (5 each). In all, schools from21 states made the Honor Roll. In addition to the Top 50 list, theHonor Roll also published the top 20 finalists in three categories thatare important to overall excellence: academics, Catholic identity, andcivic education. To see a complete list of the schools, please go tothe Catholic High School Honor Roll Web site at www.chshonor.org .
Advisoryboard member Father Bernard O'Connor, president of De Sales University,said the Honor Roll provides a valuable service. “It is important tohighlight the accomplishments of schools that are contributing inexemplary ways to the moral and intellectual formation their students,”he said.
The primary goal of the Honor Rollis to encourage schools to educate students as effectively as possible,in a way that integrates Catholic faith and prepares students foractive engagement with the world. By supporting this constructivecompetition, the Honor Roll provides insight into the character ofCatholic secondary education and calls everyone to improve the academicand spiritual formation given to America's youth. In promoting rigorouseducations, the Honor Roll desires to better prepare students forfruitful vocations in politics, business, and the Church.
Strengthin each of the three areas--academics, Catholic identity, and civiceducation--was key to placing on the Honor Roll, according to theproject's director, Dr. Kevin Schmiesing. “It is encouraging to see somany outstanding examples of Catholic education,” he said. “Though theschools represent a diverse array of types--including ChristianBrothers, Franciscan, Legionary, diocesan and independent--what theyhave in common is a commitment to excellence in the areas that weexamine.”
The Catholic High School Honor Rollis an independent project of the Acton Institute for the Study ofReligion & Liberty, an international research and educationalorganization based in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Honor Roll was producedin consultation with a national advisory board comprised of Catholiccollege presidents and noted Catholic scholars. For more on Acton,please go to www.acton.org