COVID Reaffirmed the Value of Catholic Education

As Catholic Schools Week comes to a close, I find myself looking back on not just a week, but a pandemic. Like so many, I hope that this latest surge is the beginning of the end. Time will, of course, tell. But we don't need time to know that Catholic schools have done a singular job navigating this once-in-a-century pandemic-and-lockdown crisis. Last year, my home state of Colorado declared a state of emergency for pediatric mental health, with suicide as the leading cause of death among children older than 10. Not long after, the surgeon general of the United States made a similar declaration and issued a 40-page report detailing the ways that the lockdowns have crushed the spirits of America's children. Are we surprised? For some 55 million children, school was basically closed for 18 months.