A New (Old) Model for Catholic Schools

[Catholic_Press]

This is the story of the rebirth of St. Jerome Catholic School as St. Jerome Catholic Classical School.

More…

 

[Elizabeth502]

Their K-8 curriculum is no longer scaffolded onto the public school model, but ***rather based on a chronological system that progresses through human history (Egyptian through modern and American) in K-5, and reiterates it at a deeper level in grades 6-8. It includes Latin, Gregorian chant (with training in a schola), Greek and Roman mythology and history, medieval philosophy (including St. Thomas Aquinas), the study of Renaissance art, ***the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Screwtape Letters, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates, all integrated within a Catholic worldview…

Some have worried that the curriculum implies that the classical model is the only way to be “Catholic.” Donoghue’s response to this fear? “It is not the only way,” she agrees, but holds her ground that “the classical approach best captures what the Church teaches about teaching.” Hanby adds, "’Classical’ isn’t just a method; it’s a theological judgment about the meaning of human history.

In the future, the school plans to provide additional training for its teachers; to add a class in formal logic;…

I’ve been talking about returning to a model like this, for quite some time. It’s nearly the model I grew up with. But here is the important thing about it: it’s foundational to Catholic theology. Unless you understand the philosophy, from early on (combined with logic), you cannot fully understand and apply Catholic theology. This is what is missing in most Catholic elementary & secondary education today, and definitely what’s missing in catechesis, both juvenile and adut.

I will add that what magnifies the power of a model like this is the active involvement of a priest, and preferably some religious in leadership positions. Not as tokenism, but as committed witness. Also, I’ll have to say that in the classical Catholic schools of my youth, young people discerned vocations not by going to parish priests, writing to distant random vocation directors, or calling some 800 number on a website, magazine, or TV station, but by speaking to priests and sisters in their very schools of attendance. This was the environment which made it safe and comfortable for them to get guidance about discerning a vocation, and these were the people that knew the young person the best, often for many years.

Also, if clergy is serious about wanting to form Catholics with deep prayer lives, it is far easier to do that integrated within a school day, than to give them a different kind of education (public or superficially Cahtolic) and hope they’ll “pick it up” later. We are actually primed to become prayerful when we are very young, because we are so receptive and open then. A Catholic school becomes one’s prayer community as a young child; it did for me, and that’s what allowed me to return to the prayerfulness of my childhood later, even after an absence.

 

[curlycool89]

It didn’t mention in the article, but I’d be interested to see how they’re approaching science and math. Let’s face it, you can pretty much teach anything you feel like with respect to english and history in Elementary school.

When it comes to math though, there are “more right” and “more wrong” ways to teach. If your kids don’t know how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, solve basic equations (“solve for x”) and maybe do some fractions and geometry (and I mean all by hand, none of this calculator stuff) then they are not prepared for high school (especially the 4 functions and solving equations).

Science on the other hand is tricky. Obviously you can’t get too in depth into it (scaring young kids with partial differential equations will not go well). Experiments are a no-no unless the class is mature enough (besides the awesomeness of the baking soda-vinigar volcano). For example, by grade 8, they should have at least seen a periodic table, and maybe gone over it a little bit. The other big no-no is to take an extreme philosophical view of science. Yes, there is some thinking and logic involved, but the doing part (in my opinion as an engineering student ) is far more important than the “what if” part (basically, philosophers are not going to cure cancer or make a more efficient car). They should at least know the basic tenants of science (using accepted methods and reproducibility of results).

 

[Timothy17]

And ye shall know them by their fruits.

Let’s hope and pray that our young people will be salt for earth and lights for the world.

Pax,
Tim

 

[Elizabeth502]

It didn’t mention in the article, but I’d be interested to see how they’re approaching science and math.

Yes, it would be interesting. But I’m not concerned about whether accuracy and objectivity will be somehow sacrificed. They certainly weren’t in the Catholic schools of my youth.

I think when you approach knowledge and facts in an integrated way, the order of the universe (scientific and mathematical laws and the inherent unity within those) becomes abundantly clear – that’s all. It can also be made more explicitly clear, of course, through the teaching itself. But I don’t see a contradiction between empirical evidence and an ordered universe. The school won’t be manipulating mathematical law and scientific evidence for some suspect theological result. (There’s no need to. )

Separately, here’s my general issue with this whole topic of Catholic education – the nature of it, and its at-risk existence. The clergy goes on and on about the evils of “the secular culture.” Well, sorry, but there’s not much in the way of a coherent and recognizable Catholic culture right now to oppose that. Have they not noticed that there are no longer such visible supportive structures like Irish-Catholic, Italian-Catholic, Polish-Catholic, etc. neighborhoods? Wherein births, nuptials, communions, confirmations, and funerals were experienced in the same proximate location, generation after generation? Have they not noticed that a distinct Catholic identity is extremely difficult to locate in 2010, let alone claim? That the Catholic schools (as the article indicates) are modeled after pubic school educational goals and assumptions, rather than what is uniquely Catholic, and have been for decades?

Provide the conditions for a Catholic culture, and it will be resurrected. You will then eventually see a generation of Catholics actually understand what it means comprehensively (not just nominally) to think like a Catholic, and that thought will translate automatically to civic and personal decision-making. While the clergy cannot do this on their own (neither the time nor the manpower), they can actively support educational initiatives like this, and provide some personnel in strategic locations and roles.

 

[jamanne]

"Many a good student was flogged into being a dunce ,and many a good essay was corrected into mediocrity’ Sir Walter Scott.

’
’

 

[laszlo]

The classical model of education (before 1960) emphasized in math the addition, multiplication ‘in head’ (even w/o paper, not to mention the calculators) and in science the solid knowledge, on the emphasis of the system (like the Periodic Table for chemistry) I supposed the described school is using the same model.

The experience is wonderful and shall be followed:

This is the story of the rebirth of St. Jerome Catholic School as St. Jerome Catholic Classical School. St. Jerome’s parish, located in Hyattsvile, Maryland, is an unusual case to begin with: Last year, it had 50 percent more baptisms than funerals, and it has four men currently in formation for the priesthood. But the transformation of their parish school may prove to be their most impressive achievement yet.

It didn’t mention in the article, but I’d be interested to see how they’re approaching science and math. Let’s face it, you can pretty much teach anything you feel like with respect to english and history in Elementary school.

When it comes to math though, there are “more right” and “more wrong” ways to teach. If your kids don’t know how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, solve basic equations (“solve for x”) and maybe do some fractions and geometry (and I mean all by hand, none of this calculator stuff) then they are not prepared for high school (especially the 4 functions and solving equations).

Science on the other hand is tricky. Obviously you can’t get too in depth into it (scaring young kids with partial differential equations will not go well). Experiments are a no-no unless the class is mature enough (besides the awesomeness of the baking soda-vinigar volcano). For example, by grade 8, they should have at least seen a periodic table, and maybe gone over it a little bit. The other big no-no is to take an extreme philosophical view of science. Yes, there is some thinking and logic involved, but the doing part (in my opinion as an engineering student ) is far more important than the “what if” part (basically, philosophers are not going to cure cancer or make a more efficient car). They should at least know the basic tenants of science (using accepted methods and reproducibility of results).

 

[manualman]

Very interesting article. They seized upon the very criticism I’ve made of catholic schooling for years: If it’s just a lower budget version of the public schools with lower paid teachers, older facilities and a religion class and crucifix tacked on like an afterthought, it ain’t worth it and isn’t going to work.

But you CAN address that problem without totally abandoning the grade level achievement bars used in the public school system. You just need an entirely catholic curriculum, not just a catholic religion class. The problem I see with utterly divorcing the public school grade level system is that you create a barrier to people who may want to transfer IN to the school sometime after 1st grade and potentially scare away people who have term jobs that require occasional moves. Are you really going to send your kids to a totally different type of school if you know in the back of your mind that your current project will be over in 5 years and you’re likely to have to move then for your next job? That’s reality for a lot of Americans these days.

I think my kid’s school has found a more practical solution. They make the entire experience catholic. The history, social studies, English, even handwriting texts are explicitly catholic in theme. They start every day with mass, go to confession monthly, do saints of the day, pray the rosary, go to adoration as a class. These things ALSO generate a total catholic culture without placing the child in a completely different educational approach compared to their public school counterparts. Here:
holycross-batavia.org/hccs/index.php/curriculum

 

[Elizabeth502]

Well, in my youth, one did not have to be sacrificed for the other. Of course, that was when my state’s public schools were immensely better (more demanding, far better curriculum and instruction) than they are in 2010 – or have been even since 1980, frankly.

My first two years of Catholic education were rigorous (and religious). Being from an officer’s family, we traveled a lot, so at the end of Grade 1 I found myself suddenly in a transitional public school which was (even then) three levels below what I was reading. They couldn’t find readers for me or for my siblings. The result was that (once I got to a better public school the following year) the entire rest of my education was on the advanced level. (I was placed in Advanced classes, so titled, through Grade 10 in publics, and again in Grades 11 and 12 for another Catholic school.)

I think such opportunities have all but vanished in many if not most public school districts today. That has certainly been true for my own daughters’ education. I have had to keep them in Catholic schools in order to sustain their achievement, and no, the religious immersion in their schools has not been nearly equivalent to mine. However, I will say again that for me (and I think for many children & teens) the visible presence of religious personnel (teachers and administrators, to some degree) made a palpable difference in my retaining my faith into adulthood, understanding it, and being able to continue a prayer & sacramental life.

 

[CinciMom]

I have sent the article to my pastor and he is willing to explore this and think it is worth the effort BUT we have many CC’s in our parish and in our area I am also concerned about the superintendent of the archdiocese in Cincinnati as he is new and I am not familiar with his style.

So I am praying that he will go ahead with the efforts and that this will pay off.

 

[Dakota_Roberts]

Marvelous, also with a fully integrated religious experience I’m sure it will have fewer people leave. After all the smarter sheep are less likely to be snatched by the wolf

 

[Borealis]

The other school ofthis kind, in San Antonio, looks just as awesomely awesome. My wife and I homeschool our middle son, and the youngest is almost old enough to start. Looking at the curricula of these two schools, either one would be good, but the one in San Antonio actually goes through to the end of high school.

Decisions, decisions…

We’re taking a trip to San Antonio this spring to check out the Atonement Academy.

 

[RoncalliM]

I for one would love to see a return of the secular classics at Catholic schools, i.e. Thucydides, Aristophanes, etc, in addition to mandatory Latin and perhaps Greek.

In addition, The Bible should be read in the Latin and/or the Greek senior year of Catholic HS.

 

[Elizabeth502]

I for one would love to see a return of the secular classics at Catholic schools, i.e. Thucydides, Aristophanes, etc, in addition to mandatory Latin and perhaps Greek.

ditto

In addition, The Bible should be read in the Latin and/or the Greek senior year of Catholic HS.

or earlier.

 

[MariaTheresa]

Almost anything would be an improvement. I grew up in a variety of Catholic schools in the 1970s and 1980s in the Cincinnati area. None too good on the religious front. Currently, we only have lukewarm religious ed both child and adult. There really doesn’t seem to be any guiding principle or continuity. Everyone who is in charge of teaching something does whatever they like, right or wrong, shallow or deep etc. I don’t think I will ever see a change. The more I read both about and from religious ed material from the
40’s and 50s and other pre V2 stuff the more tragic present day seems.
I don’t know if this model is the answer but I have been on the marketing committee at my children’s Catholic elementary for awhile and the number one thing I hear from other parents in my parish who send their children to the public schools is " We just couldn’t see any reason to send our kids elsewhere" Some send their kids to CCD some don’t. But really, the level of teaching at CCD, you could watch EWTN twice a month and surpass that.

 

[edwest2]

Yes, it would be interesting. But I’m not concerned about whether accuracy and objectivity will be somehow sacrificed. They certainly weren’t in the Catholic schools of my youth.

I think when you approach knowledge and facts in an integrated way, the order of the universe (scientific and mathematical laws and the inherent unity within those) becomes abundantly clear – that’s all. It can also be made more explicitly clear, of course, through the teaching itself. But I don’t see a contradiction between empirical evidence and an ordered universe. The school won’t be manipulating mathematical law and scientific evidence for some suspect theological result. (There’s no need to. )

Separately, here’s my general issue with this whole topic of Catholic education – the nature of it, and its at-risk existence. The clergy goes on and on about the evils of “the secular culture.” Well, sorry, but there’s not much in the way of a coherent and recognizable Catholic culture right now to oppose that. Have they not noticed that there are no longer such visible supportive structures like Irish-Catholic, Italian-Catholic, Polish-Catholic, etc. neighborhoods? Wherein births, nuptials, communions, confirmations, and funerals were experienced in the same proximate location, generation after generation? Have they not noticed that a distinct Catholic identity is extremely difficult to locate in 2010, let alone claim? That the Catholic schools (as the article indicates) are modeled after pubic school educational goals and assumptions, rather than what is uniquely Catholic, and have been for decades?

Provide the conditions for a Catholic culture, and it will be resurrected. You will then eventually see a generation of Catholics actually understand what it means comprehensively (not just nominally) to think like a Catholic, and that thought will translate automatically to civic and personal decision-making. While the clergy cannot do this on their own (neither the time nor the manpower), they can actively support educational initiatives like this, and provide some personnel in strategic locations and roles.

The clergy certainly have noticed. What the clergy has also noticed is the work that was done by Pope John Paul II and now, Pope Benedixt XVI. The Sexual Revolution and the Hippies and the marketing of a have sex 24/7 culture, along with No-Fault Divorce, has torn apart Polish, Irish, Italian and you name it families and neighborhoods.

In my Polish-Catholic neighborhood, people spoke the language, went to Church and raised their kids to respect and honor the multi-generational ties that bound them as a community. Meanwhile, the secular world desperately worked to turn marriage into nothing, to turn men and women against each other and to turn true love and intimacy into “just sex.”

Oh yes, in the 1950s and 1960s, we had crime and all the rest - IT WAS NOT PERFECT - but the media held its spotlight on those things which had some virtue. TODAY - that is no longer true.

And experimentation increased in public schools. The so-called “old way” turned out some highly intelligent Catholics, but too many of us became distracted by the purely secular social changes that were pushed through, like abortion on demand.

The secularists had some success in tearing this country down, but committed Catholics are emerging since God the Holy Spirit helps His people.

Peace,
Ed