Convent Schools

[JimG]

Faith is caught before it is taught. Almost all who have had the privilege of being educated in convents remember nuns whose lives, regarded as peculiar or frustrated in the media and by today’s secular society, were ones of fulfilment, vigour and purpose. Generally, these contributors recalled schools that were small enough for each pupil to “feel wanted, appreciated and loved [by the Sisters] for what we were.”

No matter what their detractors say, convent schools provided a great education.

 

[MaryT777]

What an interesting article. My grandfather spent one year in a convent school and did not have fond memories, but it’s good to read the majority did so.

Thanks for the link.

Mary.

 

[otjm]

Many did. A few didn’t. And I suspect that the many who did, would tell you about it if asked, but go about their daily lives without much fuss.

And of the few who didn’t, some carry that burden even today, and are ready, willing and able to detail every last issue, some without being asked.

So, like most things Catholic, there have been too many “juicy stories” that received ink.

 

[kathmandu]

In 1957 there were 60 children in my first grade class at a convent school. Individual attention?? Not there. And the stories about corporal punishment? They are very true. My parents thought they were doing the right thing by sending us there, but it was child abuse. One young nun in a whipple which limited her vision and 60 children was abuse of that young woman also. And although I have a very high IQ I did not learn to read until I was 13. I was a quiet and forgotten little girl. For many of us it shaped the rest of our lives in a negative way.

 

[Kielbasi]

In 1957 there were 60 children in my first grade class at a convent school. Individual attention?? Not there. And the stories about corporal punishment? They are very true.

schools were exceedingly crowded back in the 50’s and 60’s,both public an parochial atleast here in PA.

corporal punishment was just a teaching technique back then. one of my own public school chums had an aunt who was a particularlt notorious nun at the local parish school.

but she was always nice to her nephews and nieces and when i met her at their family picnic, she was nice 2 me.neither i nor her kin were students. brutality was just the state of the art teaching protocol at the time, and it did help some students if not you, unfortunately

 

[Tantum_ergo]

No matter what their detractors say, convent schools provided a great education.

I’ll second that as a proud graduate of a convent school myself.

 

[mary_bobo]

I’ll second that as a proud graduate of a convent school myself.

I only attended a convent school for one year, but I treasure the memories. Other years were spent in Catholic schools. I know for sure that we got a better education than those of the times who were in public school.

 

[Clevus]

I noted in regular Catholic school of the early fifties that extrovert children were given better treatment than those who needed to know the adult first. I was one of those. One little girl was pretty too, and of course I was out of her social sphere, as I was always the class scapegoat. With a turned up nose, my bubble gum stick she always refused, which gave me a complex and added to the torture. My school’s replacement teacher was a friend of my mom, so my marks improved in the two weeks she was there. It obviously showed in the school records that the solution in my case was kindness, and hiding the instruments of torture.

My home teacher was a matronly spinster with a col. Klink manacle, permanently pursed lips, overweight, and a bun in the hair. When she blocked the sun coming in the window she presented an immense person. She always walked with her symbol of power, a ruler to crack small fingers if the swirl of that letter “Q” didn’t just have that smooth curve the way she liked it, or she caught me distracted admiring my young love. My first day was one of sheer terror and that followed for my year with her. I repeated my grade 4 of course.

So it wasn’t just in convents. What these institutions lacked was the psychological assessment of the staff as well. There was a tendency of these to take out their discontent and frustrations on the kids. A talk of career orientation would have helped, which may result in a suggestion to find another calling away from children. Clearly many nuns and teachers were unhappy, and just followed wrong advice.

It was the year of my first real miracle also. I was asked to multiply a 4 digit number by a 3, and there were more than the usual numbers above 6. I was behind in the multiplication table by the rest of the class as my learning was taking a beating. I knew I was being set up as usual for ridicule and sport for the children. I picked up the chalk and I recall asking God for help, as I knew if I got it wrong she would throw an eraser at me. With my mind completely empty I wrote down random numbers. I put the chalk down, and I noted the usual laughter was overdue. I didn’t dare turn around. “Aright children, now we will open our grammer book to page…” and I sat down. I got the right answer.

 

[HollyDolly]

:nun1:I’ve never attended a convent school. I did attend CCD classes at St.Paul’s , but that was about it. My great aunt Sister Generose was a School Sister of Notre Dame for 60 years, and her cousin Elizabeth who I never had the chance to meet ,was also a member of the same order.
When Sister Generose died,the nuns sent us a box of photos she had kept. One photo was of a former student who had become a priest. So I guess she couldn’t have been too bad. I’m sure she had to keep discipline in her class room, but didn’t go to extremes as some might have.
My dad and Uncle Tom attended St.John’s School in Hot Springs. If he got in trouble in school the sisters would tell great grandma who then informed grandpa .Then grandpa would take care of it. Recall daddy saying grandpa telling him,“Well if you don’t want a licking,next time don’t get caught.”
Guess whatever he did was just general kids stuff.
The reason I guess they told great grandma was our family were founding members and great grandpa had worked on the construction. They gave a lot of time and money to the Church so you didn’t want to whack one of the boys too hard. Devout Bavarian Catholics they might be, but if you got great grandma or grandpa mad, they would have told the sisters AND the priest off and taken their money to the other catholic church in town.