Holy Family School forms students committed to character, leadership, and service

Holy Family School is a PreK-8 school with 205 students located in Lafayette, a picturesque community located on the Vermillion River in southwestern Louisiana. While other area schools struggle with high dropout rates, 100 percent of Holy Family students tracked through high school, graduates on time.

“ACE Scholarships is a lifesaver for many of our students,” explains Rogers Griffin, principal at Holy Family for the past 17 years. “Other scholarship programs require extensive reporting requirements and attending many meetings, but ACE Scholarships puts the focus on making the program as easy to administer as possible.”

90 percent of students at the school are from families in financial need, and 99 percent of students are African American. The school strives to be a “family of learning” grounded in values and committed to academic excellence and accessible to all families in the community.

“We are far more than a school, we are committed to the development of Black Catholics in the Diocese of Lafayette,” Rogers explained. “The encounter with Jesus Christ through the Catholic faith often results in our students bringing their parents back to the practice of their faith.”

“Many of our students would not be able to attend Holy Family without an ACE Scholarship,” he continued. “Instead of dropping out, our students achieve success in high school and many become the first in their family to attend college.”

All teachers and administrators strive to create a supportive and nurturing environment, but the key to success at the school is active involvement from parents.

“It means so much to our parents to see their students happy and thriving in school,” he explained. “Parents often have tears in their eyes describing the difference that attending Holy Family is making in the lives of their children.”

Most graduates of Holy Family enroll in local public schools. Administrators recently began tracking the progress of graduates through high school and find they consistently rank among the top academic performers at whatever school at which they are enrolled.

“We are a family, so their success is our success,” concluded Rogers. “We consider our greatest accomplishment to be forming students with a strong moral character who are committed to leadership and service in the community.”

Pictured above: Rogers Griffin, principal at Holy Family for the past 17 years.