Catholic schools have offered generations of Americans a superb education at minimal cost. These schools, renowned for their insistence on academic excellence and moral formation, have long been committed to helping every child achieve his or her God-given potential. Today, however, Catholic schools nationwide-and especially in the inner cities-face a series of escalating challenges which continue to threaten their future viability. Some labor under a financially unsustainable business model; others have allowed educational quality to decay.

If these schools are to continue their mission of providing high-quality educational options for the families that need them most, urban Catholic schools will need strategic philanthropic support from donors of all faiths. The scale of the problem is daunting, but its magnitude also creates possibilities for bold philanthropic investment.

This guidebook was written by Stephanie Saroki, co-founder and general partner of Seton Education Partners, and Christopher Levenick, editor-in-chief of the Roundtable's Philanthropy magazine. You may download or purchase a copy online.

We are grateful for the opportunity to share this guidebook with you. Like you, we see inner-city Catholic schools as a tremendous national resource. And, like you, we believe that there are hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged children who need more of us to communicate and work together on their behalf.

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Markita, an eighth grader at San Miguel School - Gary Comer campus, shares her story for the NativityMiguel Network Annual Report.  Markita reflects on how she found herself at San Miguel, the reasons why she loves her school, and what she hopes to pursue in the future.

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Is this a crisis worth addressing? Are further closures inevitable, or can Church leaders, parishioners, philanthropists and/or public policymakers reverse these trends? Should they try? This 122 page report answers those questions and more. 

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