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All prospective families are invited to join us to learn more about Catholic Central. Take a student-led tour of the school, see classrooms in action, meet teachers and staff, and visit our student activities expo. Our Open House is in mid-November each year.

Catholic Central accepts transfer applications for 9th-11th grade students. We do not accept 12th grade transfer students.

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Contact the admissions office to schedule a tour. Learn more.

Shadow Days allow students to experience a day as a Cougar at Catholic Central. They will attend a few classes and stay for lunch. 8th grade Shadow Days are scheduled from mid-October until December 1st. Current 9th-10th grade students should contact admissions to schedule a Shadow Day.

• 8th grade students: Applications for incoming freshmen open in mid-October of their 8th grade year.
• 9th-11th grade students for 1st semester/fall admission: Applications open in mid-April.
• 9th-11th grade students for 2nd semester/winter admission: Applications open in mid-November.

See our apply now page for details.

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1. The interested family completes the third party financial aid application.
2. The application results report gets sent to Catholic Central’s business office to customize each family’s tuition based on the specifics of each family’s financial situation.
3. Learn more about variable tuition here.

No. Variable tuition takes into account if there is more than one student, including siblings that are at a different tuition-based school, at any grade level including college.

There is no standard amount because CC treats each family specifically based on their unique financial situation. Our families participating in variable tuition generally pay anywhere from 20-80% of tuition.

The Dominican Scholar Award is a scholarship designed to recognize incoming freshmen who are of good character and exemplify at least one of the Dominican pillars: study, prayer, service, and community. The award amounts range from $500-1,500. We strongly encourage all freshmen to apply for this award. The Dominican Scholar Award application opens in mid-October and is due December 1 of the student’s 8th grade year.

Catholic Central offers 40+ endowed scholarships. The majority of them are needs-based. Other financial opportunities include: Dominican Scholar Award, Bishop’s Scholarships, and parish support.

No. Catholic Central does NOT award athletic or talent-based scholarships.

1. Academics: Show a commitment to academics by passing all classes and earning grade-level appropriate grades. Grades below a C- are generally considered unfavorable and will be reviewed with careful consideration.
2. Attendance: Show a commitment to attendance that leaves no question that school and academics are the highest priority.
3. Behavior: Show a commitment to good behavior and good character.

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We ask families to make an enrollment decision soon after they have received their financial package.

Continuous enrollment is a one-time enrollment process that assumes your student is enrolled until graduation. While you will have to submit some paperwork annually, you will not be asked to complete the enrollment process after the first year.

No, of course not. Catholic Central is proud of our Catholic roots and welcomes students and families of all religious and faith traditions. 20% of our students are not Catholic. Please know that every student is required to take a theology class every semester of enrollment and Mass is built into our schedule every Wednesday.

Yes. Click here to read our dress code and personal appearance guidelines in our Student Handbook. Our uniform provider is Flynn O’Hara. To order uniform items, visit www.flynnohara.com or call 800-441-4122.

Counselors are assigned based on the student’s last name.

An iPad will be issued to each new student. The student will keep the iPad until graduation. Catholic Central carries insurance for the iPad for the first incident. If an iPad is in need of repair, it must be taken to CC’s Technology Department. Taking the iPad to an outside service or provider is not allowed.

No.

Breakfast and lunch are offered daily for purchase. Students may select a-la-carte items or a combo meal. The combo meal includes an entree, fruit, veggie, and milk. CC accepts applications for free and reduced lunch.

Yes. Only juniors and seniors may park at school. Their parking lots are located at Sheldon and Goodrich Streets, LaGrave, and Maple Streets. Each car parked in a CC lot must have a CC parking decal, which can be obtained in the main office. Due to our vibrant downtown location, limited parking is available. Therefore, carpooling is strongly encouraged.

Catholic Central offers bus transportation from various locations. If you are interested in transportation, please complete this form. Additionally, many students carpool.

Yes! All interested parents are welcome to celebrate Mass with our Catholic Central family. All school Mass is celebrated on Wednesdays at 10:20 a.m. Please know there are a few exceptions to this schedule.

Email is the main method of correspondence with families. In addition to our weekly Cougar Parent News, families are emailed a back-to-school packet in August, and any other important announcements throughout the year. Announcements are uploaded to the CC website on a daily basis. We encourage all parents to frequently visit the CC website for the most up-to-date information. Any parent may contact the school directly with questions.

It is extremely important to CC that we are able to communicate with all of our families, regardless of language. We have some staff that speak Spanish. When needed, the bilingual admissions advocates at the Diocese of Grand Rapids assist CC with translation during events and when creating communication materials.

We encourage all parents to consider giving some amount of their time to serve our greater CC community. CC provides sign-up sheets at Welcome Back Night where parents can volunteer to help our community in various capacities. We are grateful for your service!

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Yes. CC has a phenomenal Student Support Services department that serves the academic needs of each individual student.

We encourage any family interested in learning more about our Student Support Services to contact Mr. Brad VanTimmeren at bradvantimmeren@grcatholiccentral.org.

All returning and incoming CC students are required to complete summer reading before the fall semester commences. Reading assignments are made based on the specific English course that your child is taking next year. There may be other summer academic requirements for some honors and AP courses as well. This information will be available on the CC website in June.

CC offers a wide variety of clubs and activities, and encourages all students to explore multiple opportunities, perhaps even in something they have never tried before! Our clubs and activities include: academic, athletic, bands/choirs, campus ministry/faith formation, journalism/writing, service, etc. Every CC student has a home within our greater CC family. CC also conducts various retreats, dances, and events throughout the year. Please refer to the school calendar for more information.

You can view all of our athletic offerings at www.catholiccentralsports.com.

Some athletic programs, bands, and choirs have try-outs while others do not. The try-out policies for each program might change on an annual basis as well. Athletic try-outs are conducted before that sport’s season begins (fall, winter, spring).

Trying out for a roster spot on a team can be a stressful situation for anyone. If your child doesn’t make the team they tried out for, support them, validate their feelings, and encourage them to try another sport or activity. At this age, students have often not yet been exposed to a variety of activities. However, trying new things can unveil new passions!

CC provides complementary one-way busing for student-athletes to get to the CAT after school. The bus to the CAT will promptly depart 5 minutes after the school day concludes. Parents are responsible for picking up their child(ren) from the CAT.

Sports physicals are required for all CC student-athletes. Sports physicals are due before the student’s first sport try-out or practice of the academic year, and must be turned in directly to the Athletic Office. Please click here to print a copy of the sports physical form.

CC approaches service with the goal of making our students lifelong volunteers. We support and sponsor various service opportunities throughout the year, each researched and mentored by CC staff. CC does not require service hours for graduation, as we believe service is an inherent desire each of our students are called to fulfill.

COREX is an annual three-day senior retreat that takes place at Camp Blodgett before the school year commences. All seniors attend, along with many of their parents, faculty, and staff. This amazing community-building opportunity enables the senior class to unite and bond as they prepare to lead the student body during the upcoming school year.

Serve-a-thon is a multi-faceted event that includes a student-driven fundraiser and a day of service at dozens of service sites throughout the Grand Rapids community.

Kairos is a four-day, three-night, off-campus Catholic retreat for seniors during which they pray, reflect, worship, build an intentional Catholic community, deepen their relationship with God, and seek to hear where and how God is calling them as they prepare for graduation.

Each Advent, the Catholic Central High School community “adopts” families from the Cathedral of Saint Andrew. Each Coram Deo prays for their family and purchases food and gifts for them for Christmas. This service project is a long-standing tradition of Catholic Central. Thus, we have helped thousands of people have an enjoyable Christmas when it would have been very difficult for them otherwise. The family’s gifts are delivered to the various homes after our Advent liturgy on the last day of school before Christmas vacation.

Freshmen are allowed to attend the winter sno-shuffle. Freshmen can attend Homecoming if asked by an upperclassman. Freshman cannot attend prom.