The Department of Catholic Schools offers the Basic California Catechist Certification process to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to meet the faith formation needs of the children in their care. The five-phase process, available for all elementary principals and teachers in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, follows the criteria established by the Bishops of California to promote and standardize the competence of catechetical programs. 

Religious education means more than passing on facts and information. It is an encounter with Jesus. For both teachers and students, it is a way of Christian witness. Catholic school teachers are considered witnesses to the faith and must be models of Christian living.  The National Directory for Catechesis states, “The Catholic school’s effectiveness as a community of faith and a center for evangelization and catechesis depends to a large extent on its teachers of religion” (n. 9c).