Our Catholic Community of St. Charles and St. Joseph-St. Mary is exploring the feasibility of a new Catholic high school to serve our community and surrounding parishes. We would like to gather your opinion and ideas. Your response to this inquiry is very important whether or not you (might/would) consider enrolling your children in this school.

Please complete only ONE INQUIRY FOR YOUR FAMILY and return it no later than December 18, 2023. Use this link to take the survey online. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGM3MpwtYaK5d-MbZ-IYemuCqoOBS6J28RqzeWVYHAGKEf7Q/closedform

A few things to consider as you complete this inquiry

Catholic Education:   The school will provide a superior Catholic education that empowers every student to develop into the individual God created him/her to be. The school will embrace and exemplify the teaching and tradition of the Church in areas of virtue, life, Scripture, the sacraments and social teaching. A strong Catholic identity will be present in all aspects of the school experience.

Academics: This inquiry looks to gather information to design an academic program that fits the needs of our community. This could be a traditional diocesan, vocational based or a classical education program. This program will be designed, so that current St Charles students and all other surrounding Catholic school, homeschool, and elementary/ middle school programs can easily transition into this new high school. 

Beyond academics: School partnerships will be pursued for co-curricular opportunities to the extent they are available, in collaboration with neighboring public and private schools and/or community organizations.

Cost: For this inquiry, assume that tuition will not be a barrier for you when considering whether you should enroll your child/children. Financial support for families will be offered based on need. Every effort will be made to ensure the school is financially prudent and affordable for all families.

Location: The high school would be located at St. Joseph located in Belding. It would use the current school facility that is already on site. In addition to Our Catholic Community of St Charles and St Joseph-St Mary, the new school looks to serve all surrounding parishes within our diocese including Montcalm, Ionia, and eastern Kent Counties.

Timeline: Realistically, starting a new high school could take 3-5 years. The purpose of this inquiry is to see how many people see this as a need. The more interest that there is, with people willing to help in whatever ways that they can, and lots of prayer, anything is possible with God!

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful response to all the inquiry questions.

We take your privacy seriously. Information collected during this inquiry process is confidential and will be used for the sole purpose of the feasibility study conducted by SaintsCJM and the Office of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Your personal information will not be given to any other party or used for any other purpose.