Abstract
Catholic schools have closed at a significant rate over the past several decades. The purpose of this dissertation was to give voice to parish-based, elementary Catholic school principals on the school sustainability crisis and provide a framework to be shared with Catholic school leaders to improve school viability. Through a qualitative, grounded theory study, twelve Northern-California, parish-based, Catholic school principals were interviewed using a researcher-developed protocol. The researcher used a comprehensive coding process to analyze data resulting in themes that included the purpose of Catholic schools, definition of Catholic school sustainability, external and internal sources of frustration, feelings of support, and ideas for short-and long-term survival. Themes were structured into a framework that offers sustainability interventions to leaders of parish-based schools, the aim of this dissertation. Catholic school leaders including the parish-based principals, priests, bishops, diocesan superintendents, and university instructors might adopt all or parts of the framework depending on their role in Catholic education to strengthen Catholic education. Although no single intervention can stop the rapid closure rate of Catholic schools, the voice of the elementary school principal in a parish-based Catholic school offers Church and diocesan leadership important guidance to the problems and possible solutions to the sustainability crisis and identifies the primary need for a unified vision of the future of Catholic schools.