By Deborah Manog

Year after year, Catholic schools around the nation report a 99% graduation rate of high school seniors. The same rings true locally for approximately 502 students from Hawaii Catholic Schools, which include Damien Memorial School, Maryknoll High School, Sacred Hearts Academy, Saint Francis, Saint Louis, St. Joseph – Hilo and St. Anthony Jr/Sr High.

Nearly 1,400 parents of students who attend Hawaii Catholic Schools identify “better preparation for college” as the leading quality offered by their respective schools, according to an online survey conducted in November 2014. Having a successful sports and arts programs as well as developing students’ church and community leadership skills rounded out the rest of the top 3 admired programs offered through Catholic schools.

“Sacred Hearts likes to ‘brag’ about the colleges to which our girls are accepted— just feel we have to toot our horn about an occasional acceptance to UC Berkeley or Stanford, but the majority going to the mainland are going to Catholic colleges—Seattle University, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, Creighton, etc. These are very high quality schools for our Hawaii Catholic schools graduates,” said Head of School Betty White.

“Our students find success and happiness in these colleges—and we hope they are completing their course of study with a sense of spirituality intact,” White added.

One hundred percent of Maryknoll High School seniors have been accepted to colleges, 29% of which are Catholic colleges. At Saint Francis School, 93% of seniors will be continuing on to a university or college, 23% of which are Catholic colleges.

Congratulations to the entire Class of 2016, including the kindergarten and 8th grade graduates from 23 elementary schools and graduates from 11 standalone preschools of Hawaii Catholic Schools.

List of Hawaii Catholic Schools High School Commencement Ceremonies:
• Damien Memorial School:
Sunday, May 29 at 11:00 a.m. at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall.

• Maryknoll High School:
Friday, June 3 at 5:30 p.m. at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall.

• Sacred Hearts Academy:
Saturday, May 28 at 3:00 p.m. at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall.

• Saint Francis:
Monday, May 30 at 3:00 p.m. at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall.

• Saint Louis:
Saturday, May 28 at 1:30 p.m. at the Neal Blaisdell Arena.

• St. Joseph – Hilo:
Friday, May 27 at St Joseph’s Church. The Baccalaureate Mass will begin at 4:00 p.m. followed by the graduation at 5:00 p.m.

• St. Anthony Jr/Sr High:
Friday, May 27 at 6:00 p.m. at St. Anthony Church Center.