Catholic School Accreditation

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Des Moines are accredited through the state of Iowa and meet or exceed the education standards ofIowa Code section 256.11. Additionally, 1/3 of our schools are recognized as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. Not only are all of our Catholic schools accredited — our teachers are also all licensed by the Iowa Department of Education.

Our Catholic school education curriculum meets and exceeds state graduation requirements for English, math, science and social studies. In addition to meeting all state requirements, our schools also conduct internal “site visits” to evaluate quality on a rotating basis.

These visits focus on our Catholic identity, academics, governance and operational vitality and use the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools as guidelines. Using these two systems provides greater accountability for our schools and ensures continuous growth for our faculty and students, thus allowing them to reach their full potential.