What you should know about Catholic Schools Week 2026

National Catholic Schools Week (CSW) begins on the last Sunday in January. The 2026 CSW observances will be Jan. 25–31. Since the annual event’s launch in 1974, schools typically celebrate various aspects of the school community and its traditions. For many students, staff, and families, the week’s observances are a highlight of the school year and make for many lasting memories. 
 
We have 15 Catholic schools in our diocese located in the cities of Belcourt, Devils Lake, Fargo, Grand Forks, Jamestown, Langdon, Rugby, Valley City, Wahpeton, and West Fargo. Our newest school, St. Carlo Acutis Middle School, is part of the newly formed All Saints Catholic Schools Network in Grand Forks. In these 15 schools this year, we are serving 2,384 children from pre-school through 12^th grade.
 
The National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), which organizes CSW celebrations, said on its website that the week’s 2026 theme is “Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community.”
 
“Catholic schools have an irreplaceable role in the Church’s evangelizing mission,” the NCEA said. “Building on the central goal of Catholic schools to form saints, Catholic schools teach and embrace the whole person, body, mind, and spirit. The fact that all members of a Catholic school community share the Christian vision of faith that Christ is the foundation of Catholic education is what unites the school as a faith-filled community.”
 
The Catholic Church emphasizes that parents are “the first teachers of their children.” This means that Catholic school communities “expand beyond the walls of school buildings to envelop the family as an integral part of the school community.” Parents, together with teachers, school staff and administrators, and other students “fuel the light of faith by integrating culture with faith and faith with living.”
 
The Catholic Schools Week logo represents these themes by depicting various people in a circle that embraces the Cross. The NCEA said this logo symbolizes “the united community of Catholic schools” as “people of faith serving God and others.”
 
“No Catholic school can fulfill its educational role alone,” the NCEA said. “As a community, Catholic schools are nourished and stimulated by the centrality of the word of Christ expressed through knowledge, service, scripture and sacramental tradition.”
 
Please pray for our 15 Diocese of Fargo Catholic schools—for their students, parents, staff members, pastors, parishioners, alumni, and benefactors.
 
Bishop Folda will discuss Catholic Schools Week 2026 in an upcoming episode of the SENT podcast, produced by the Fargo diocese’s Offices for Catholic Education and Formation. The interview with the bishop is available Jan. 26 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, other podcast apps and the diocese’s website at www.fargodiocese.org/sent.