The Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Schools

About The Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Schools · Phoenix

The Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Schools is the educational arm of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, serving students across central and northern Arizona through 29 Catholic elementary schools, 31 preschools/Pre-K programs, and 6 diocesan high schools — plus one independent Jesuit high school (Brophy College Preparatory). Headquartered at the Diocesan Pastoral Center at 400 E. Monroe St. in Phoenix, the Catholic Schools Office supports administrators, teachers, and families with curriculum standards, accreditation, professional development, and Catholic identity resources. Its mission is to lead young people to an encounter with the living Christ while integrating faith throughout an educational process that promotes academic excellence, moral values, and lifelong service.

Catholic education in the Diocese of Phoenix has grown hand-in-hand with the diocese itself, which was established in 1969. In the early decades, founding pastors typically opened a parish school at the same time they built the parish church, and religious sisters — from more than four dozen orders including the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), the Loreto Sisters (IBVM), the Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM), and the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia of Nashville — staffed nearly every classroom. Pioneers such as the BVM's Sister Joan Fitzgerald, who came to Phoenix in 1962, helped build flagship institutions like Xavier College Preparatory (an all-girls high school where she served as principal from 1974 and later became president in 2016). Today the Catholic Schools Office, led by Executive Director/Superintendent Domonic Salce and Assistant Superintendents Mary Bartsch and Dr. Anthony Garibay, coordinates a system spanning preschool through grade 12 across the Valley and outlying communities including Flagstaff, Prescott, and Lake Havasu City. The office publishes curriculum standards rooted in Catholic identity and Catholic social teaching, supports accreditation through the Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA), and operates ancillary programs such as the Catholic Youth Athletic Association. The system is financially sustained in part by Arizona's tuition tax-credit programs and the auxiliary Catholic Education Arizona organization, which raises scholarship funds so that families in financial hardship can access Catholic education. Whether a family is seeking a faith-based preschool, a K-8 elementary campus, or a rigorous college-preparatory high school (Brophy, Xavier, Notre Dame Prep, Seton Catholic Prep, Bourgade Catholic, Saint Mary's, or St. John Paul II), the Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Schools website (catholicschoolsphx.org) and the diocese's school finder at dphx.org serve as the central hub for enrollment, employment, and accreditation information.

Owner

Owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix (established 1969). Catholic Schools Office leadership: Domonic Salce, Executive Director / Superintendent; Mary Bartsch, Assistant Superintendent; Dr. Anthony Garibay, Assistant Superintendent.

Serves

Maricopa County and the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (Glendale, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Cave Creek, Avondale, Peoria, Gilbert) plus outlying Arizona communities including Flagstaff, Prescott, and Lake Havasu City — covering the entire Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.