GRAND FORKS – Faith-based schools in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks are seeing rises in enrollment in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, with increases ranging from 10% to 38%.

St. Michael’s Catholic School, Holy Family-Saint Mary’s Catholic School, Sacred Heart Catholic School and Riverside Christian School all have seen increases over the last five years. Different than their public counterparts, faith-based schools – according to their leaders – offer families and students more diverse environments: smaller, faith-driven, accessible and community-oriented.

“I think that there is something to be said about parents who are looking for a holistic education for their child, an education that addresses the whole person. … And I think there’s a desire for that in our community,” said Sarah Effhauser, chief of staff at Sacred Heart. “Our public school districts are great – so the education is there. I think it’s that community aspect of a like-minded group of people who are able to talk about their faith.”

All four faith-based schools in Greater Grand Forks have grown in recent years, including:

• Holy Family-St. Mary’s (K-5): Up 9.5% since 2020-21, from 115 students to 126. 
• St. Michael’s (pre K-5): Up 26% since 2020-21, from 167 students to 210.
• Sacred Heart (pre K-12): Up 12% since 2019-20, from 473 students to 529.
• Riverside Christian (pre K-12): Up 38% since 2019-20, from 159 students then to 220.

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics,

fall enrollment in public schools nationwide from 2019 to 2023 fell by 2.5%

, representing more than 1.2 million students nationwide. By 2031, the NCES projects that percentage will look more like 5% – meaning 5% fewer students enrolling in public schools in 2031 than there were in 2021. The decline in public school enrollment led to a subsequent enrollment growth in private institutions, according to

an article published by FutureEd

, which cites a U.S. Census Bureau study that shows a 22% increase in private school enrollment since the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Greater Grand Forks school leaders cite a number of factors that may have contributed to their schools’ growth, Amanda Carter, principal at Holy Family-St. Mary’s, said the pandemic highlighted the luxury of small educational environments.

“COVID brought a lot of changes. Our enrollment increased a lot during that time, and has continued that way,” Carter said. “COVID brought a lot of people because they were more comfortable with the small atmosphere. And then once you start, you have a hard time leaving.”

This school year, the Grand Forks School District has approximately 7,900 students and the East Grand Forks Public Schools District has 1,925. For comparison, all four faith-based schools have a combined enrollment of 1,085.

The difference in school size not only can affect students’ experiences in the classroom, but also families’ access, said St. Michael’s Principal Sara Dudley. She said parents who choose religious education often appreciate the individual relationships with school staff and the access to school leadership.

“I think another reason parents are choosing Catholic education is because they really want to feel connected to their school,” she said. “They want to be able to come in and have relationships with the teacher, be able to have access to the teacher, access to me.”

The close-knit educational environment, according to Carter, can allow for greater parental involvement and influence over their children’s curriculum.

“Families have the opportunity to be more involved in the schools. Not to say that they can’t in public, but there’s just more of an opportunity here, and more choice in what their children are learning,” she said. “There’s more collaboration here. There’s more input on what you’re teaching. There’s more trust. It’s difficult because there are so many people that are telling the teachers what to do versus what the students really need, I feel like. That’s something that’s definitely different here.”

While all schools must follow teaching guidelines and requirements, religious institutions have more freedom in what they teach and their curricular worldview. The emphasis and infusion of faith into day-to-day lessons is a core reason why families are choosing religious education, the local faith-based school leaders said.

“Our education here, it’s based on the Bible,” said Sheri Moonen, Riverside Christian’s admissions, marketing and special events coordinator. “It’s based on that Christian aspect. And not only in their day when they’re able to pray, they’re able to talk about God and Jesus in our science classes and in our history classes.”

According to Effhauser, that faith can expand past the classroom to create a more unified community. She said many of the families switching over to faith-based institutions are doing so to find a community with similar values that they can raise their children in and around.

“The families that we’re encountering are ready to join a community of people who are like-minded, who strive to just build strong families,” Effhauser said. “The community is really what’s important. It’s the packed gyms on a Friday night, the youth sports that we offer, and the ability to worship together in common space — to have a common unifying factor of our families that Christ is at the center.”

Due to the increasing student enrollment, Greater Grand Forks’ faith-based schools have expanded.

In 2020, Riverside Christian School began offering high school classes, making the school K-12. It’s now in the midst of a capital campaign to build a new school on the south side of Grand Forks. Sacred Heart recently added seven classrooms and a commons area – allowing the school to offer two sections for each grade level, from kindergarten through 12th grade. Despite the expansion, Sacred Heart still has several grade levels at capacity and maintains a waitlist for a number of grades.

The newest expansion comes from a partnership between Holy Family-St. Mary’s and St. Michael’s. Last year, the schools combined to form the All Saints Catholic Schools Network, which unites the schools with a shared mission, curriculum and financial resources.

“The reason we looked into creating this network is really to build our capacity to grow Catholic education,” Dudley said. “So we wanted to combine our resources and then, by combining our resources, we thought we’d be able to have more professional development opportunities for our teachers. We thought we would be able to really share the mission of Catholic education more widely in Grand Forks.”

Made possible with the combined resources, the All Saints Catholic Network has opened the St. Carlo Acutis Middle School, currently hosted on the top floor of St. Michael’s. This year, the school is only accepting sixth-grade students. It will expand to include seventh grade in the 2026-2027 school year, with eighth grade being added in 2027-2028.

A fundraising project is underway with hopes to build a new St. Carlo Acutis Middle School building, to be built across from St. Michael’s. It’s expected to be open for sixth- through eighth-grade students for the 2027-2028 school year. The $12 million building will include five classrooms, a prayer room, gathering hall, media center, STEM classroom and administrative space.

“We’ve really been able to form it the way we want kids to be taught, and what we want for our kids going into middle school,” Carter said. “I would say my biggest hopes and dreams for this middle school is to have its own identity separate from the elementary schools. … Also to be religious leaders in our schools.”

St. Carlo Acutis, the saint after whom the school was named, was a 15-year-old boy who died from leukemia in 2006. Acutis was born in London before moving to Italy, where he was raised and is now entombed. He was canonized in September 2025 for his use of digital technology to promote Catholicism.

As enrollment continues to grow at faith-based schools across the country, school choice laws are being pursued by states nationwide. School choice is a term that encompasses a variety of policies that seek to shift public dollars from the public education system into the private education system, allowing students and families to choose a school that’s the best fit for their needs.

In North Dakota during the 2025 session of the Legislature, HB 1540, would have created an educational savings account program for students not enrolled in public schools. However, it was vetoed by Gov. Kelly Amstrong in April. Nonetheless, in Armstrong’s veto, he wrote in favor of school choice, stating that HB 1540 was not the right bill to deliver the message.

“In its final form, House Bill 1540 fails to deliver the school choice North Dakota needs, especially in rural areas where nonpublic school options are few and far between,” Armstrong wrote. “Passing a voucher bill that caters to only a small segment of North Dakota’s student population all but guarantees a voter referendum and threatens to derail the prospect of good school choice policy for years to come. We only get one bite at this apple, and House Bill 1540 bites off more than North Dakota citizens can stomach.”

If a school choice bill passes in North Dakota, Carter believes it will “dramatically” increase the enrollment numbers of the All Saints Catholic Schools Network in Grand Forks.

WASHINGTON – Trae Young’s tan outfit nearly matched the color of Washington’s uniforms. And although he couldn’t take the court and help his new team, Wizards fans showed their appreciation.

Young was introduced to the home crowd with a video during the first quarter of Friday night’s 128-107 loss to New Orleans. Earlier in the day, the trade that sent the high-scoring guard from Atlanta to Washington became official, and now Young can look forward to a fresh start after leaving the Hawks.

“For me, DC is overlooked as far as a big market,” Young said. “In the NBA, I feel like this is a big market, and I just feel like I’m going to be able to come into an opportunity to be myself.”

The first big question is when Young will play again. He missed Friday night’s game with knee and quadriceps issues and hasn’t appeared in a game since Dec. 27.

Big market or not, the Wizards lost 64 games last season and 67 in 2023-24. They were 3-20 around mid-December but had won seven of their last 13 entering Friday night’s game. Washington has plenty of young players, and the development of second-year big man Alex Sarr has been encouraging, but the Wizards could use a true point guard to play alongside the likes of Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson and Kyshawn George, all of whom are between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-8 and under 23 years old.

Enter the 27-year-old Young, who for his career has averaged 25.2 points per game and 9.8 assists. After the Wizards spent two seasons bottoming out, his arrival gives Washington fans a star they can pin their hopes on. General manager Will Dawkins suggested the move won’t alter the patience the team has shown with its less experienced players.

“As an organization, we have a long-term plan, and we’re not going to do anything to deviate from that,” Dawkins said. “I think Trae fits into what we’re trying to do based on the development of a lot of the younger players.”

Washington could lose its first-round pick this year if it falls outside the top eight, but aside from that, there was little obvious downside to bringing in a four-time All-Star like Young, especially since the Wizards gave up no draft choices in the trade. Washington sent guard CJ McCollum, who coincidentally has the same birthday as Young but is seven years older, to Atlanta along with reserve forward Corey Kispert.

Young has a player option for about $49 million for next season.

“When you have a four-time All-Star, All-NBA player available, who wants to come to DC and help make it what we want it to be, it was an easy partnership and an easy decision,” Dawkins said.

Although he led the Hawks to the conference finals back in 2021, Atlanta hasn’t even made the playoffs the past two seasons, and the light return for Young indicates where his stock was when the deal was made.

“On behalf of the Hawks franchise, I’d like to thank Trae for how he embraced the city of Atlanta and represented the Hawks during his time here, on the court and in the community.” Hawks GM Onsi Saleh said in a statement. “Over more than seven seasons, including four All-Star appearances, he cemented himself as a fan favorite and one of the great players in our franchise’s history. We wish Trae and his family all the best.”

Now Young will try to add to Washington’s recent history of dynamic point guards. After years with John Wall leading the way, the Wizards had Russell Westbrook for one remarkable season in which he averaged a triple-double and led Washington to its most recent playoff berth.

But that was back in 2020-21, the same season the Hawks peaked with Young. He was in only his third season then.

“It happened faster than I expected in my last place,” Young said, suggesting the Wizards could be capable of a similar rise.

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AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA

Two more former college basketball players testified Friday to being sexually abused as teens by the multimillionaire coach of New York’s esteemed Riverside Church basketball program, echoing the allegations of their boyhood teammate Daryl Powell, who’s suing the church in a state Supreme Court civil court trial in Manhattan.

Former Riverside players Byron Walker and Mitchell Shuler both took the stand on the trial’s second day, frequently choking up as they described their experiences with Ernest Lorch, who built the church basketball program into a model for the massive modern youth sports industry — but died in 2012 with a reputation tarnished by abuse allegations.

Walker described a pair of incidents in which he alleged Lorch forced himself on the player, ostensibly to discipline him. One of the alleged assaults Walker described, detailed in a joint Rolling Stone and Sportico investigation, resulted in a criminal indictment against Lorch in Massachusetts in 2010. (Lorch never stood trial in the case because of his failing health.) On Friday, Walker told the six jurors and three alternates that during halftime of a game in Springfield, Mass., in 1977, Lorch “tried to penetrate me,” ostensibly while punishing him for being late for the team van.

The former player also went into detail about a second allegation during a tournament in Arizona, where, Walker said, Lorch threatened to prevent him from talking to a college recruiter because he broke curfew and was drinking with teammates. After issuing that threat, Walker said on the stand, Lorch forced him to pull down his pants and sexually assaulted him. “There’s this back and forth motion,” the former point guard at the University of Texas-El Paso testified, “like I was being raped.”

Walker’s testimony followed that of Mitchell Shuler, who played on the same late-1970s Riverside elite high-school-age travel teams with Walker and Powell. Shuler, whose play with Riverside helped him gain a scholarship to the University of New Orleans, broke down several times when describing Lorch’s use of a paddle to punish him for indiscretions ranging from not working hard in practice to struggling in a high school French class. “I got down on my knees, like a dog, and got hit,” said Shuler, who last year retired as a project manager at Harlem Hospital after a 40-year career. “My bare butt was exposed.”

Shuler also described being stared at by Lorch while showering and enduring “jockstrap checks” in which the coach groped his testicles.

Both players were called as witnesses by attorneys for Powell, whose case is the first of 27 lawsuits filed against Riverside to go to trial under New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act. He alleges that Riverside was negligent in supervising Lorch over his 40-year run at the head of the basketball program, which ended in 2002 after the first public allegations of abuse by a former player.

But Shuler and Walker are also suing Riverside, which Riverside attorney Phil Semprevivo pointed out to the jury. Earlier in the day, Powell faced tough questions on cross-examination by Semprevivo, who sought to poke holes in his case against the church — including differences in the plaintiff’s trial testimony Thursday and an earlier sworn deposition in the case in 2023.

For example, Powell testified Thursday that Lorch “stroked” the player’s penis as part of jockstrap checks and inserted his finger in Powell’s anus. Semprevivo pointed out that Powell never used those terms or descriptions at any point in his earlier deposition.

He also questioned Powell’s stated rationale for quitting basketball completely after a successful junior season at Marist College in 1982. On Thursday, Powell emphasized that he quit Marist with a year left on his full scholarship because he was “fed up” with the sport after his history with Riverside. Semprevivo pointed to other deposition testimony that Powell said he quit school to be with his future wife. Under questioning Friday, Powell said both reasons factored in his decision.

The former player also said some discrepancies in his testimony were a result of his diminished hearing. But Semprevivo, pointing out several contradictions or inaccuracies on things like dates, said Powell had ample opportunity to correct the deposition record and failed to do so.

One such instance: Powell said in his deposition that he never mentioned being abused by Lorch to any Riverside assistant coaches, including Kenny “Eggman” Williamson, who died in 2012. But in his trial testimony, Powell gave a detailed account of telling Williamson that Lorch was looking down his shorts and paddling him. Powell testified that he remembered it vividly because, he said, he told Williamson on the day of the infamous, riot-plagued 1977 New York City blackout.

Powell said on Thursday that Williamson told him, “If you know what I know, you better not say anything, or you’re not playing for this team anymore.”

Powell continued: “I was devastated. I shut my mouth up. I wanted to stay on the team.”

Semprevivo pointed out on Friday that Powell signed a statement in 2024 that corrected some errors in his deposition, but never amended his statement that he’d never said anything to Williamson.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Empowering girls through sports is the goal of News 4’s January community partner, Leveling the Fields.

The Charleston-area nonprofit offers after-school sports programs for elementary school girls, aiming to introduce them to athletics early and help build pathways to leadership later in life.

Girls in the Lowcountry are learning lacrosse, soccer and basketball through the program. Founder Melyssa Jaskiewicz said exposure to sports at a young age can translate into confidence and leadership skills as they grow older.

“Only 24% of C-suite executives are female, but 94% of them played sports,” Jaskiewicz said. “If we want more women in leadership, we need more girls playing sports.”

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Jaskiewicz said cost, access and limited options often prevent girls from participating. To address those barriers, she launched Leveling the Fields’ Empower Play program in February 2024.

Through the program, coaches go directly to Title I elementary schools, eliminating transportation challenges. The nonprofit fully funds the nine-week program, which rotates through three different sports.

“The fact that we’re going onsite takes out access. We’re fully funding it, so that takes out cost,” Jaskiewicz said. “And by offering three sports, we’re taking out options as a barrier.”

The first pilot program launched in April 2024. Since then, the nonprofit has expanded into schools across Charleston and Berkeley counties, completing 11 programs in 2025.

Heading into 2026, seven schools are already signed up for spring sessions, with three additional schools on a waiting list due to funding limitations.

Jaskiewicz said the organization’s biggest expenses are coaches and equipment, but support from volunteers has been strong.

“Everyone really aligns with the mission,” she said. “Most of us played sports, some at the college level, and one even professionally. People understand how sports helped get them where they are.”

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Looking ahead, Jaskiewicz said the nonprofit hopes to expand to all 39 Title I schools across Charleston and Berkeley counties within five years, with Dorchester County potentially next.

Long term, she envisions chapters in every state within 20 years.

She said one of the most important lessons sports teach is resilience.

“The biggest thing sports teaches us is how to lose,” Jaskiewicz said. “You learn it’s not the end of the world. You get up and you keep going.”

Jaskiewicz hopes those lessons will help set the girls up for success well beyond the playing field.

For more information on Leveling the Fields, click here.

The Brenham Cubs played a solid offensive game on Friday night, but could not keep up with A&M Consolidated on their home floor.

Brenham dropped an 85-75 game to the Tigers for its third consecutive District 17-5A defeat.

The Cubs (14-10, 0-3 district) produced 28 more points than their last game on Tuesday against Huntsville. However, Brenham also allowed its second-most points in a game this season.

“I told the kids, ‘I can not be mad at how hard you played,’” Brenham coach Colby Andrews said. “It is not like it was an effort thing. It felt like every time that we could not finish an opportunity that we had at this end, they came back down and just hit a dagger.”

Brenham held two momentary leads in the second quarter. The last lead came on a putback from junior forward Lamarion Roberson with 4:23 left that gave the Cubs a 21-20 lead.

A&M Consolidated (9-11, 2-1 district) went on an eight-point run over nearly two minutes to take a 28-21 advantage. The Tigers proceeded to take a 36-26 lead into halftime.

Brenham and A&M Consolidated’s offenses went blow-for-blow in the third quarter. Both teams combined for 49 points in the period with no team building a run of more than five points. The Tigers edged the Cubs 25-24 to take a 61-50 lead into the fourth period.

A similar pace broke out in the final quarter. Brenham got its deficit down to eight points at three different times in the period, but A&M Consolidated responded each time.

After Brenham senior forward Jayden Hebert made a putback with 5:52 to play to trim the Cub deficit to 69-61, the Tigers went on a seven-point run. A 3-pointer with 3:59 remaining pushed the A&M Consolidated edge to 76-61.

After the Tiger run, Brenham could not get its deficit below 10 points.

“They do a really good job of pushing the ball and I think we struggled in that area and it was just hard to close that gap,” Andrews said. “We could not consistently either finish or get back on defense. That is a bad recipe, but it was a fun game.”

Hebert played a key role in the fourth quarter with three of his six baskets for the game. He finished with 15 points.

Junior forward Roderick Martin also had a productive second half. Martin scored five points in the third quarter and tallied seven points in the fourth period to finish with a team-leading 18 points.

“He played well and he is really stepping up into a leadership role and just keeping everybody even-keeled,” Andrews said.

Senior guard Chris Guidry and junior guard Quincy Adams each made two baskets in the final period. While Adams’ baskets made up his only four points of the game, Guidry’s fourth-quarter effort supplemented a 15-point performance. Guidry went 6-of-7 from the free throw line with four made shots.

Junior guard Dawud Majied produced two 3-pointers in the third quarter as part of a 13-point night. He made three 3-pointers overall.

Even though Andrews said Majied had a momentary lapse in confidence, he also said his shot “was much better today.”

Despite Majied’s 3-pointers being Brenham’s only deep makes of the contest, Andrews also was happy with his team’s deep shooting.

“The 3-point shot, we have actually shot a little bit better than we normally do,” he said.

Andrews also praised performances off the bench from junior guards Trelyn Kelly and Darion Curry, among others. While Curry did not get onto the scoresheet, Kelly provided five points with two made shots.

Despite a solid effort on Friday, Brenham is in a perilous position with its 0-3 district record. Andrews noted that to keep up with last year’s district-wide pace of six wins needed for a playoff spot, Brenham will need to win six of its next nine district games.

However, he also said his players remain in high spirits and are focused on improving to end their losing streak.

“They realize that I know that they are playing very hard,” Andrews said. “They also know (that) we got to make more easy shots near the basket. We got to convert those and take advantage.”

Brenham will continue its search for its first district win at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Rudder, the only other winless team in District 17-5A play.

“We got to fine tune some things and get us a win,” Andrews said.