Dear Holy Family Catholic School Families and Friends,
We joyfully invite you to join us in celebrating National Catholic Schools Week, an annual tribute to the exceptional education provided at Holy Family Catholic School. Beginning with last Sunday’s Mass on January 25th, we have embarked on a week-long celebration showcasing our students’ accomplishments and our vibrant educational community.
This year’s theme, “United in Faith & Community,” reflects the core values of Catholic education nationwide. At Holy Family, we are not just teaching students; we are nurturing future servant leaders, faith-filled disciples, and engaged citizens. In Catholic schools, we recognize that educators grow alongside our students—we are simultaneously learners, servants, and leaders.
This year’s theme emphasizes three critical elements that distinguish Catholic education:
- Faith Development – Cultivating a personal relationship with Christ
- Academic Excellence – Pursuing knowledge as a gift from God
- Dedication to Service – Living out the Gospel through action
These qualities inspire families to make meaningful sacrifices to provide their children with a Catholic education that forms both mind and heart.
We warmly invite you to visit Holy Family Catholic School during this special week. Please join us for Mass on Wednesday as we celebrate Vocations and honor our local priests and deacons. Witness how our students’ faith continues to flourish in our community. Bring friends and neighbors, especially those considering Catholic education for their children.
Gratitude for Our Community
We are profoundly grateful for our teachers, staff, committee members, parents, parishioners, and volunteers who make our school extraordinary. National Catholic Schools Week is the perfect opportunity to thank them for their unwavering dedication and service.
A special thank you to the HFCS Student Council and their faculty advisor, Kathy Sells, for making this week exceptional. Our student council has led numerous community service events this year, and this week is no exception. Students are gathering to make cards for the Renaissance Nursing Home that neighbors our school, collecting winter weather clothes for the needy, encouraging buddy classes to read and mentor younger schoolmates, and writing thank you cards to parents, faculty, and staff. Our student council truly leads by example—in faith and in community.
Renewing Our Resolutions
As we near the end of January, those New Year’s resolutions we so eagerly drafted three weeks ago may start to lose their appeal. Now is a great time to pause and reflect on those goals, perhaps refining them to include aspirations that will benefit our whole Catholic community.
Being Catholic means sacrificing for our families and our communities. It is more than attending Mass on Sundays—it is an ongoing personal encounter with Christ that renews the spirit so that we may witness God’s love with joy in our world. Each Catholic is called to full and active participation in the life of the Church.
As you reflect on your New Year’s resolutions, consider how you can become a more active member of your parish, your school community, and your family. We are all called to be more Christ-like. It takes perseverance, it takes time, and most importantly, it takes love.
Encountering Christ and witnessing His love means we are called to live like Jesus and work for justice and peace in this world by living the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.
Catholic High School Steering Committee
HFCS has a fundamental mission to promote excellence in spiritual as well as academic education. We celebrate the unique gifts given to each of our children by God, doing so in community with our three parishes: St. George, Pope St. Pius X, and St. Thomas the Apostle.
In this spirit of community, we are joining together with the Diocese as they initiate the Steering Committee for a Diocesan Catholic High School in our Northern Idaho region. I invite you to consider bringing your talents to the table for this tremendous opportunity. The next Steering Committee meeting will be held February 12th at 6:00 PM in the school library. If you are interested in helping, please join us.
Support Through Scrip
Another very easy way you can support our ongoing efforts to provide quality Catholic education is to utilize our Scrip Program. If you have not taken time to download the mobile RaiseRight app, please do so now. It makes scrip purchasing easier to manage and helps you track your earnings for the school. It is a wonderful way to support the school without spending any money you were not already planning to spend. It’s not hard—it just takes a commitment to use the program and a small sacrifice of time.
Thank you for being part of our Holy Family Catholic School community. May this National Catholic Schools Week be a time of joy, gratitude, and renewed commitment to our shared mission of forming young hearts and minds in the image of Christ.
Pax et bonum,
Sue Styren, M.Ed.