CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School saw resounding success during its second annual Cougar Caritas, a charity initiative that places more than 1,000 of its students in the greater Charlotte community for two full days of service.
For two days Dec. 1-2, students fanned out across Mecklenburg County to serve others. They prepared meals at homeless shelters across the city, brought Christmas cheer to nursing home residents, sorted and wrapped Christmas gifts for underprivileged children, provided refreshments to veterans and thanked them for their service, refurbished donated bicycles that will be given to children for Christmas, cleaned and organized food pantries, and performed many other charitable works. More than 75 different service projects were carried out over the two days.
Caritas, a Latin word meaning charity and Christian love of humankind, was chosen last year as the theme for the days of service. Given the wide variety of projects occurring over two days, Charlotte Catholic’s Campus Minister Mary Jayne Dawson felt it was important to give the event a name that embodies all that will be done, and the spirit in which the students will serve.
“It’s incredible to have more than 1,000 students, plus faculty and staff members, join together to help so many in our community in so many different ways,” Dawson said. “We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our world today, and this is Charlotte Catholic’s way of turning that calling into action.”
“My hope is that Caritas inspires our students to take on these projects on a regular basis,” she continued. “We made an extra effort to teach our students more about who and why we are serving, so that they can feel more engaged and encouraged to become regular volunteers throughout our city.”
The theme of the 2017-’18 school year at Charlotte Catholic is the acronym “LOVE”: Loving Others, Valuing Everyone. Each month of the school year has a different focus: acceptance, involvement, gratitude, charity, faith, compassion, social justice, responsibility and patience. Concentrating on one theme each month encourages school-wide conversations and actions to demonstrate each of these themes. This month, students are focusing on charity.
“Cougar Caritas demonstrates our school’s ongoing commitment to the corporal works of mercy, and is one of our many efforts to serve the larger community,” said Jeremy Kuhn, English teacher and co-chair of the event.
A large group of Charlotte Catholic students spent the day refurbishing donated bicycles for Trips For Kids Charlotte, a non-profit organization with several programs that provide bikes to underserved youths. The students sorted bicycle parts and repaired bikes for the afterschool Earn-a-Bike program.
“The session went great,” said Eric Supil of Trips For Kids. “They processed 31 bikes for parts and prepped 20 bikes for youths!”
Members of the high school’s basketball team traveled to St. Matthew Church to help Lynn Polian’s first-graders with a Christmas project. They helped the children make gingerbread houses and other treats to send to the Greenway Park Elementary School families that the class adopted for Christmas.
“The boys were great with the kids,” Polian said afterwards. “I received many messages that my class went home excited to share who our special visitors were. What an awesome opportunity for our elementary students and parents to see how great our CCHS student body is.”
“Our students did a wonderful job with this project, and so many of our teachers and staff worked behind the scenes to make the days of service a success,” said Principal Kurt Telford. “I want to thank our teachers for being out in the community and here on campus, giving of themselves. Being a model in the areas of service and charity is the best teaching we do.”
— Carolyn Tillman, Special to the Catholic News Herald. Tillman is the assistant director, Advancement Office, at Charlotte Catholic High School. Photos provided by Carolyn Tillman
CHARLOTTE — Enrollment for the 2018-’19 academic year is open for all 19 Diocese of Charlotte schools: nine schools in the greater Charlotte area and 10 parish-based schools around the diocese.
Several schools also offer special learning programs to better meet the needs of diverse learners. In many instances, a parent can provide their child with a Catholic education from pre-kindergarten through high school.
All of the diocese’s Catholic schools are accredited through AdvancED-SAC-CASI (Southern Association of Schools-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement).
MECKLENBURG AREA CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
The nine schools in MACS are: St. Ann School (PK, TK-5), St. Gabriel School (K-5), St. Matthew School (TK-5), St. Patrick School (K-5), Our Lady of the Assumption School (PK-8), St. Mark School (K-8), Holy Trinity Middle School (6-8), Charlotte Catholic High School and Christ the King High School.
Upcoming open houses for prospective families are:
- St. Ann School: 600 Hillside Ave.; Charlotte; 704-525-4938; www.stanncatholic.org; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 31
- St. Gabriel School: 3028 Providence Road; Charlotte; 704-366-2409; www.stgabrielcatholicschool.org; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 1
- St. Matthew School: 11525 Elm Lane; Charlotte; 704-544-2070; www.stmattwildcats.com; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan 30
- St. Patrick School: 1125 Buchanan St.; Charlotte; 704-333-3174; www.saintpatrickschool.org; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 30
- Our Lady of the Assumption School: 4225 Shamrock Dr.; Charlotte; 704-531-0067; www.olacatholic.org; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 1
- St. Mark School: 14750 Stumptown Road; Huntersville; 704-766-5000; stmarkcatholicschool.net; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 31
- Holy Trinity Middle School: 3100 Park Road; Charlotte; 704-527-7822; www.htcms.org; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 30
- Charlotte Catholic High School: 7702 Pineville-Matthews Road, Charlotte; 704-543-1127; www.charlottecatholic.org; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 1
- Christ the King High School: 2011 Crusader Way; Huntersville; 704-199-4400; www.ctkchs.org; open house 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 31
Tuition rates for the 2018-’19 year are expected to be announced in February.
Last year’s tuition costs for participating Catholic families were: $3,875 for half-day pre-kindergarten or $6,020 for full-day pre-kindergarten; $6,569 for elementary school (transitional kindergarten through fifth grade); $7,279 for middle school, and $10,645 for high school. (Tuition for non-Catholic or non-participating Catholics is higher.)
Additional graduation, technology and activity fees are not included in these costs.
Tuition discounts are provided to participating Catholic parishioners and for multiple children enrollment.
Financial assistance is also available to qualifying families based on need.
All of the diocesan schools participate in the N.C. Opportunity Scholarship and the N.C. Disability Scholarship Programs.
For more information, including application forms and financial aid opportunities, go online to www.discovermacs.org.
Prospective families may also contact MACS Admissions Director Heather Schoonover at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 704-370-3273.
MACS SPECIAL NEEDS
MACS also offers special needs programs at various locations including: PACE (Providing an Appropriate Academic Catholic Education), MAP (Modified Academic Program) and MMP (Matthew Morgan Program). Each offers a specific educational experience for students with special needs.
To learn more about these special programs and tuition rates, go to www.discovermacs.org/speciallearning.
DIOCESAN SCHOOLS
Outside the Charlotte area, there are nine parish-based elementary/middle schools and one diocesan high school, each with independent admissions processes and varying tuition rates and financial aid programs. These schools are:
- Asheville Catholic School: PK-8th grade; 12 Culvern St., Asheville; 828-252-7896; www.ashevillecatholic.org; open house 9-11 a.m. Jan. 31
- Bishop McGuinness High School: 9-12th grade; 1725 N.C. Hwy. 66 South, Kernersville; 336-564-1010; www.bmhs.us; open houses 9-10:30 a.m. and 7-8:30 p.m. March 7
- Immaculata School: PK-8th grade; 711 Buncombe St., Hendersonville; 939-693-3277; www.immac.org; call to schedule a tour
- Immaculate Heart of Mary School: PK-8th grade; 4145 Johnson St., High Point; 336-8887-2613; www.ihm-school.com; call to schedule a tour
- Our Lady of Grace School: PK-8th grade; 201 South Chapman St., Greensboro; 336-275-1522; www.olgsch.org; call to schedule a tour
- Our Lady of Mercy School: PK-8th grade; 1730 Link Road, Winston-Salem; 336-722-7204; www.ourladyofmercyschool.org; open houses 9 a.m.-noon Jan. 30; 5-7 p.m., Feb. 6; 9 a.m.-noon Feb. 22
- Sacred Heart School: PK-8th grade; 385 Lumen Christi Lane, Salisbury; 704-633-2841; www.salisburycatholicschool.org; call to schedule a tour
- St. Leo School: PK-8th grade; 333 Springdale Avenue; Winston-Salem; 336-748-8252; www.stleocatholic.com; open houses 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.Wednesday, March 14, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.Wednesday, April 11 and 11 a.m.-2 p.m.Wednesday, May 16.
- St. Michael School: PK-8th grade; 704 St. Michael’s Lane, Gastonia; 704-544-2070; www.stmichaelcs.com; call to schedule a tour
- St. Pius X School: K-8th grade; 2200 North Elm St., Greensboro; 336-273-9865; www.spxschool.com; open houses 10:15 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Jan. 28; 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. Jan. 31
Visit each school’s website or contact the school directly for registration information or to schedule a visit.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter