For half a century, Bishop Canevin High School in the Oakwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh has been preparing teenagers for college.

Also for half a century, SS. Simon and Jude School in Scott has been preparing younger children for high school.

But Holy Child School, previously St. Agatha, trumps them both. The Bridgeville school has been nurturing young minds for 60 years.

All three Catholic schools are celebrating anniversaries this year. Bishop Canevin and SS. Simon and Jude both have anniversary celebrations this month; Holy Child marked its milestone earlier in the school year.

Bishop Canevin's anniversary comes at a time of resurgence for the school, according to development director and 2001 graduate Dave Jakielo.

"We have over 500 students, the largest group in 11 years," he said. Enrollment has grown for the past four years, he said, and a renovation over the summer has made the school more attractive.

But, Mr. Jakielo said, the primary attractions at Bishop Canevin are still what they've always been: a strong sense of faith, a strong sense of the school as a family and strong academics leading toward college.

"One thing that always stuck out for me was the teachers and the personal touch they had," he said. "They really know the kids, and they were always willing to talk to the kids after class or stay late to help them. I just always got the sense that they really cared, that they had a vested interest in me."

There also is a sense of family among the students, Mr. Jakielo said. "There were cliques, but it wasn't like there was a certain group that wouldn't associate with another group. ... The stereotypes are really broken here."

"It's a community," said Sister Judith Worden, vice principal for academic affairs. Though students come from a wide geographic area, she said, "there is a real bonding that goes on here. People know one another."

Another important aspect, she said, is the focus on academics. About 95 percent of Bishop Canevin students go on to college, she said, and the school has a special track designed to help kids with less innate academic ability do what they need to do to get to college.

Sister Judith said changes through the years -- she has been at the school since the early 1970s -- have been subtle but constant. One of the biggest was a move to co-education in the 1970s.

Before that, she said, the only place boys and girls saw each other was in the library, and "kids really used the library in those days ... though I'm not sure how much studying got done."

She worries about the future, though.

"I firmly believe in Catholic education," she said, "but Catholic education is getting very expensive." She said Bishop Canevin has a donor who helps many of the students financially. "If that donor were not there, I don't know how many families could afford it."

The school is holding a rededication Mass and dinner Saturday. The Mass will be celebrated at 4 p.m. at the school. Tours will be available beforehand. Dinner will follow at the Green Tree Radisson Hotel.

The celebrant will be the Most Rev. Paul J Bradley, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The Rev. Julian Zambanini, the much-beloved headmaster of the early 1970s, is expected to fly in from Italy for the celebration, Mr. Jakielo said.

At SS. Simon and Jude, the anniversary Mass and dinner will be held beginning at 4 p.m. Nov. 29. Dinner will follow at Cafe Euro.

That school opened in September 1958 with five teachers teaching grades one through four. It added one grade per year until 1962, when it reached eight grades. Enrollment swelled to more than 700 later that decade.

"We exist for the purpose of presenting a faith-based, academically superior education in a safe, nurturing environment," according to the school's Web site. The school now has 12 full-time teachers.

Holy Child, like SS. Simon and Jude and most other Catholic schools, is much smaller than it used to be, but has seen stable enrollment of about 160 for the past several years.

"It's a great school community," said Sister Barbara Anne Quinn, principal. "Parents are very supportive."

The school and parish originally were St. Agatha, and the school started with first and second grade in 1948. The parish was reorganized as Holy Child in 1994.

Sister Barbara said the school is best known for its "Amigos" program, which pairs first-graders with seventh-graders and second-graders with eighth-graders. The children have a number of organized activities together, with a focus on having the older children help the younger ones with academics.

The program has been running for about 15 years, she said, and is so well-known that families choose the school because of it and children look forward to it and embrace it.

"The older Amigo will sit with the younger Amigo at lunch and at Mass," she said. "I hear about kids in Giant Eagle yelling, 'Hey, Mom, there's my Amigo!' " The school recently started an Amigo Family program, pairing new school families with established ones.

Sister Barbara said the school's continued success shows that "there's a large group of people who have recognized the value of an education that recognizes faith and its importance as the basis of education and want that for their children and grandchildren."

Sister Judith agreed.

"I firmly believe the Catholic religion is carried forward primarily by people who came through a Catholic education," she said. "People become stronger in their faith."