The Elk County Catholic School System (ECCSS) is comprised of three schools: St. Marys Catholic Elementary School hosts preschool/kindergarten through grade five, St. Marys Catholic Middle School hosts grades six through eight, and Elk County Catholic High School hosts grades nine through twelve.

Mission

ECCSS, a Catholic school system of the Diocese of Erie, rooted in the Gospel values of Jesus Christ, serves students throughout the region. Committed to the highest standards of academic excellence, our mission is to develop the whole student in mind, body and spirit while nurturing the God-given talents of each.

Primary Reasons for Choosing Catholic Education

Parents choose our schools primarily for four reasons: an excellent academic program, strong up-todate technology, fair and enforced discipline, and a Catholic faith-based environment.

Academics

We have a very strong academic program. All three of our schools are fully accredited. Twenty-two of our faculty members have master's degrees and two have doctoral degrees. In preschool/kindergarten, our teachers are specifically trained in early childhood learning. Remedial and enrichment programs are offered. The high school has three curriculum tracks to accommodate the differing abilities of students. The high school hosts 6 advanced placement classes and 9 dual-enrollment courses where students can earn up to 27 college credits. That is equal to more than a year of college before graduation from high school. Our high school program exceeds the graduation requirements set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Our technology is current and continually upgraded in all three schools. In standardized testing, our students continually score at or above the national average.

America needs workers who have a strong foundation in critical thinking, good communication, and strong math and technology skills to fuel productivity and growth. No matter where our graduates are going, we prepare them well for their next steps.

Faith-Based Education

In the Catholic Church, parents are responsible for nurturing the seeds of faith given to their children in Baptism. There is no better place to plant a seed than in good soil and that is exactly what happens when a child attends our Catholic schools. We are the fertile soil where academics and faith may develop as children grow into teenagers and later adults.

Catholic schools are different because they are faith-based. What does that mean? God and prayer are a natural part of every day. The morals and values our children receive are firmly rooted in the teachings of the Gospel. Our children are taught how to address ethical concerns in relation to God. They are taught that responsibilities to oneself and others, high expectations, and civility come from the fundamental belief that we are all children of God and worthy of such endeavors. The mission of our schools is to develop the whole child, mind, body, and spirit.

Affording Catholic Education

There is a cost for Catholic education. As we all know, parents have to make choices. Catholic education requires sacrifice, but in essence, paying tuition is stewardship because children are God's gifts and tuition gives back to God the means for a child to develop educationally in a faith-based setting.

Our system offers financial aid for families who are in need of assistance. We have endowed scholarship funds and many benefactors who are willing to support our students through scholarship gifts. Parents applying for financial aid fill in forms which are processed through the Diocese of Erie in a confidential and neutral manner. Father Michael, president of our system, often says to parents, "If you want Catholic education for your child, we will work with you to make it happen."

We Invite You to Contact Us

We are so proud of our schools and our success. We invite you to visit us for a school tour when we are in session to see firsthand what is happening with in our walls. We invite you to talk to parents who have children in our schools to hear what they have to say. We invite you to call our director of admissions whose contact information is listed below.

Elk County Catholic School System 
Sam McDonald, President
814-834-7812

St. Marys Catholic Elementary School 
114 Queens Road
St. Marys, PA 15857 

Debbie Slay, Principal 

Melinda Lanzel, Administrative Assistant
814-834-4169

St. Marys Middle School & Elk County Catholic High School 
600 Maurus Street
St. Marys, PA 15857

John Schneider, Principal 

Scott Scutella, Director of Admissions
814-834-7800

For more information visit: www.eccss.org