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#### Welcome to JPII Catholic Schools

… to inspire exceptional student achievement by teaching the total person and fostering the following of Christ in an environment guided by the Gospel spirit, as taught by the Catholic Church.

We seek to teach the message of hope contained in the Gospel. We envision that our children will be empowered to value the dignity of each person. Through the commitment to Catholic Education, we recognize the opportunities to grow in faith, foster a sense of ministry and to advance a just and caring society.

JPII Catholic Schools offers education from 3 year old preschool to 12th grade to all walks of faith.

##### History of JPII Catholic Schools

The St. John Paul II Catholic Schools Network (JPII Catholic Schools) history dates back to 1882 when the Presentation Sisters arrived from Ireland and established the first Catholic School in the city of Fargo, Dakota Territory. In 1889, North Dakota became the nation’s 39th state and Rev. John Shanley of St. Paul, MN became the first Catholic Bishop of North Dakota. In the years following, various parish communities were developed in the city of Fargo and each parish built a school that served students in kindergarten through grade eight. A new high school was built in 1951 and named in honor of Bishop Shanley. The Presentation Sisters served the Fargo Catholic Schools for over 100 years until 1989.

In 1989, Fargo’s Catholic Schools formed a K-12 education network, the Fargo Catholic School Network, which was renamed in 2011 to Blessed John Paul II Catholic Schools Network, and after the canonization of John Paul II in April 2014, now St. John Paul II Catholic Schools Network. JPII Catholic Schools offers three year old programs through grade twelve, it is comprised of Holy Spirit Elementary School, Nativity Elementary School, Trinity Elementary School, Sullivan Middle School and Shanley High School. A new facility for Shanley High School and Sullivan Middle School opened in the fall of 2002 with a campus on the south end of Fargo. Trinity Elementary School opened its doors in the fall of 2015, in the heart of the West Fargo expansion. The JPII Catholic Schools is supported by the Fargo Metro Area’s eight sponsoring parishes, Nativity Catholic Church, St. Anthony of Padua’s Catholic Church, Sts. Anne & Joachim’s Catholic Church, Cathedral of St. Mary, Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Holy Cross Catholic Church, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and St. Benedict’s Catholic Church.

##### Mission Statement of JPII Catholic Schools (Policy No. 1000)

The Mission of JPII Catholic Schools is to inspire exceptional student achievement by teaching the total person and fostering the following of Christ in an environment guided by the Gospel spirit, as taught by the Catholic Church.

##### Vision

We inspire exceptional student achievement by developing students who:

- Demonstrate academic excellence
- Participate in co-curricular activities
- Integrate knowledge of the Catholic Faith
- Engage in service-learning
- Identify and develop their gifts, talents and abilities
- Are life-long learners who seek truth, wisdom, and knowledge

We teach the total person including these dimensions:

- Spiritual
- Intellectual
- Physical
- Emotional
- Social
- Moral
  We foster the following of Christ in an environment guided by the gospel spirit and develop students who:
  - Engage in prayer and the sacramental life.
  - Develop lives of virtue based on Scripture and tradition.
  - Treat each human person with dignity.
  - Recognize the vocation of living lives in community: family, church, school, civic, global.
  - Promote Pope John Paul II’s Evangelization.