The Catholic Schools of Washington

Catholic schools educate preschoolers through university graduate students throughout the State of Washington. As educational institutions linked by the tenets of the Catholic faith, the schools share the common values of community, worship, tradition and service. However, each serves a unique community and therefore has developed its own, individual mission statement, assisted in governance by a local board or commission.

The state’s first Catholic schools were opened in 1856 by Fr. Jean Baptiste Brouillet in Vancouver and in 1857 by the Sisters of Providence at Fort Vancouver. During the next 140 years, the mission of the Catholic schools contributed to the life and growth of the Church and the State of Washington. Catholic school graduates have been leaders in this state, in aerospace, science, agriculture, politics, education and religion.

Today this legacy continues in the four Catholic institutions of higher learning enrolling over 12,000 students, in the 13 Catholic high schools with almost 7,000 students and in the 78 Catholic elementary schools serving over 22,000 pupils. The three Catholic dioceses of the state, Seattle, Spokane and Yakima, are committed to providing opportunities for excellence in education and faith formation for all children.

Within the Washington Federation of Independent Schools, the Catholic schools are identified in two groups - the Catholic Parish Schools and the Independent Catholic Schools. Parish schools are typically supported and managed on the local level by one or more church communities or parishes. Additional support and direction can come from the diocesan level depending upon need and locale. Independent Catholic schools operate with the approval of the local bishop, but have their own governing structures. Among the independent Catholic schools in our state there are two types. Some of the independent schools are owned, and governed by a religious community (e.g. The Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, Christian Brothers of LaSalle, and the Religious of the Sacred Heart.) The other independent Catholic schools are those that are owned and operated by a Board of Directors or Trustees. These tend to be schools that have evolved through the hard work, sacrifice and tenacity of parents who wanted a Catholic education for their sons and daughters where dioceses were lacking resources to build.

All Catholic schools celebrate with the larger private school community the rich diversity and variety that has been reflected in the students and families we have served for nearly 150 years.

For more information:

SR. JOYCE M. COX, BVM, Interim Superintendent. Archdiocese of Seattle
910 Marion St.
Seattle, 98104
(206) 382-4861

DUANE SCHAFER, Superintendent. Diocese of Spokane
P.O. Box 1453
Spokane, 99210
(509) 358-7330

CATHY COLVER, Superintendent. Diocese of Yakima
5301-B Tieton Dr.
Yakima, 98908
(509) 965-7110

-submitted by Dr. Kris Brynildsen-Smith