Catholic Schools Week 2018 Highlights
NCEA joined Catholic schools across the country to celebrate National Catholic Schools Week 2018 from January 28 to February 3. Through these events, schools focused on the value that Catholic education provides to young people and its contribution to our church, our communities and our nation. NCEA is grateful to all who shared their celebrations with NCEA by welcoming us into schools both in person and through social media.
We are pleased to share the following highlights from CSW 2018:
- The U.S. House and Senate passed resolutions to officially recognize the contributions of Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the United States.
- The House Resolution states, "…Catholic schools serve the nation by providing a diverse student population from all regions of the country and all socioeconomic backgrounds a strong academic and moral foundation, including 41.4 percent of students from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds and 19 percent from non-Catholic families."
- The Senate Resolution affirms that Catholic schools "are an affordable option for parents, particularly in underserved urban areas...whereas the Catholic high school graduation rate is 99 percent with 86 percent of graduates attending four-year colleges."
- NCEA joined Catholic University for a special St. Thomas Aquinas Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
- News coverage across the country showcased Catholic school Masses, open houses, service activities and other events that proclaim Catholic schools as communities that learn, serve, lead and succeed. Catholic Schools Week was mentioned in more than 1,132 news stories nationwide.
- NCEA, in partnership with FACTS Management, launched the inaugural Many Gifts, One Nation: A Day of Giving to Catholic Schools. To date, More than $754,000 was raised from 6,957 donations to 539 schools, three dioceses and NCEA. An additional $105,751 has been reported from schools, bringing the total to $859,000. More information will be shared in the coming weeks.
- We shared, connected and proclaimed Catholic Schools Week stories on @NCEATalk using #CSW18. Throughout the week we reached an audience of more than 30 million on Twitter and Facebook using Day of Giving and Catholic Schools Week keywords. We reached a national audience on Facebook of over 219,000 and more than 235,000 on Twitter.
- Through our association blog, NCEA Talk, we featured stories from Catholic school educators across the country proclaiming the good news of Catholic education. NCEA also formally announced the winners of the NCEA Youth Virtues, Valor and Vision Awards.
- NCEA staff visited 13 schools in 7 dioceses.
In preparation for CSW, NCEA had 2,211 visits to the Marketing Kit for Catholic Schools (digital version), with 1,459 unique readers. This is an increase of 51.4% / 66.2% (respectively) over last year’s Marketing Handbook.
The highest article titles/reads for the Marketing Kit are as follows:
Year-Round Marketing Planning Guide / 1,828
Catholic Identity and Building Your Brand / 1,733
Developing Your Year-Round Marketing Plan / 1,677
Telling Your Story / 1,665
National Catholic Schools Week Theme / 1, 662
Social Media / 1,629
Website / 1,605
NCSW 2018 Planning Guide / 1,574
The most clickthroughs were made as follows:
Tools and Templates
Catholic Schools Week Liturgy Planning Guide
CSW 2018 Planning Guide
CSW Brand Guidelines
Many Gifts, One Nation: A Day of Giving to Catholic Schools Planning Guide
Year-Round Marketing Planning Guide