Espicopal & Catholic Elementry Schools

[cajun_disciple]

Hello,

First time poster here. Not sure if I picked the correct board for this subject, if not I do apoligize. Looking for a couple of opinions on this subject as I an just recently learning the differances between catholism and episcopalian. I consider myself a traditional catholic and have always asumed I would send my daugter to catholic school. Well to make a long story short, between being away from home for the past 4 years with my job and planing to move back this summer, it seems my only option to get my 3-1/2 year old daughter into private school may be an episcopal school rather than catholic. This school is considered the best in the town we are moving to, not to mention the most expensive in the entire area. She would go here until 6th grade and attend a catholic high school from 6th on. I am unsure about sending her here, but at the same time I know the education will be leaps and bounds ahead of the public schools in this area, paving the way to college. Thanks in advance for any feed back

God Spead,
CD.

 

[Beltany13]

Hello,

First time poster here. Not sure if I picked the correct board for this subject, if not I do apoligize. Looking for a couple of opinions on this subject as I an just recently learning the differances between catholism and episcopalian. I consider myself a traditional catholic and have always asumed I would send my daugter to catholic school. Well to make a long story short, between being away from home for the past 4 years with my job and planing to move back this summer, it seems my only option to get my 3-1/2 year old daughter into private school may be an episcopal school rather than catholic. This school is considered the best in the town we are moving to, not to mention the most expensive in the entire area. She would go here until 6th grade and attend a catholic high school from 6th on. I am unsure about sending her here, but at the same time I know the education will be leaps and bounds ahead of the public schools in this area, paving the way to college. Thanks in advance for any feed back

God Spead,
CD.

Hm. This is a tough one because on one hand you care deeply about your daughters education, and recognize that private schools, regardless of the denomination, are almost always superior to public schools. But on the other, you want your daughter raised a Catholic and be taught the Catholic doctrine.

My advice is this: The public school will be far worse for your daughter, I’m certain. It’s almost entirely secular, as God is stripped from every discussion (I know; I was a public school man). I would send her to the Episcopal school, continue taking her to Mass on Sunday (or Saturday evening, whatever you do) and explain to her that Catholics and Episcopals differ in certain areas, then do your best to explain the differences.

 

[malphono]

Hello,

First time poster here. Not sure if I picked the correct board for this subject, if not I do apoligize. Looking for a couple of opinions on this subject as I an just recently learning the differances between catholism and episcopalian. I consider myself a traditional catholic and have always asumed I would send my daugter to catholic school. Well to make a long story short, between being away from home for the past 4 years with my job and planing to move back this summer, it seems my only option to get my 3-1/2 year old daughter into private school may be an episcopal school rather than catholic. This school is considered the best in the town we are moving to, not to mention the most expensive in the entire area. She would go here until 6th grade and attend a catholic high school from 6th on. I am unsure about sending her here, but at the same time I know the education will be leaps and bounds ahead of the public schools in this area, paving the way to college. Thanks in advance for any feed back

God Spead,
CD.

This goes way back to pre-Conciliar days, but I recall that we had a few children of other denominations in grade school and also in high school. They were always excused from any and all religious activities. As long as the Episcopal school follows the same principle, there should be no problem. Still, you might want to clarify things up front with the headmaster/headmistress at the interview.

 

[WhollyRoamin]

Hmm… to misappropriate the late, great Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (and to change his words around to something he never really said):

“Send your children to [Episcopalian] schools where they will have to defend their faith, not to Catholic schools where they will lose it”

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

Your duty in choosing a school is to give your child the best “Catholic education” possible - catechesis is your responsibility, with which a school or parish might help you, but here Catholic education actually means instruction in secular learning that is done from, shall we say, a soundly Catholic point of view. That being said, if there is no Catholic school (or if the “Catholic” school is obviously deficient, worse than the alternatives), then it falls to you to figure out which of your remaining options will ensure the most Catholic of atmospheres. We would usually assume that a Christian school would be better than public, but honestly the Episcopal church’s creed seems almost indistinguishable from that of “the world” at this point, so don’t simply assume. Also, it might turn out that the education at the Episcopal school would be overall more Catholic, but that there would be a serious danger of your child becoming confused or mislead about authentic Christianity, in which case I think I personally would opt for my child to be challenged by secular beliefs than to be duped by faux Christian ones (whose challenges would probably be more subtle and thus more difficult to guard against). Only you on the ground, though, can figure out the nature of the schools and which one will be least dangerous on the balance.

 

[wisdomseeker]

i would be very carefull in sending the child to any school other then Catholic school. i know of one child that was sent to a protestant school and now she is very anti Catholic. so be very carefull on this one.

may our God direct you into the right path. Amen

 

[mardukm]

i would be very carefull in sending the child to any school other then Catholic school. i know of one child that was sent to a protestant school and now she is very anti Catholic. so be very carefull on this one.

The best remedy for that is simply the parents’ constant involvement in the Faith formation of their child. A close family friend (Catholic) sent his daughter to a Lutheran school pre-school and grade school, but was/is very active in speaking to his daughter about anything that might seem anti-Catholic. She is now in highschool and has a solid Catholic faith.

Blessings,
Marduk

 

[T700]

Speaking as one who has made the choice to leave the Anglican church to come Rome, I would worry less about your child forsaking allegiance to the bishop of Rome and more about her coming home with a book titled, “Why does Heather have two mommies?”.

I love many things about the Anglican church and her mode of worship, but aside from the fundamental break with Rome, there are additional sources of conflict with Catholic teachings. Unless the Episcopal school is very different than most, your child will be taught:

1. Contraception is fine.
2. Homosexuality is fine.
3. Women can be priests and bishops.

Personally, unless the public school was sorely deficient or unsafe, I’d save the money and send the child there, while concentrating on teaching her the truth at home.

Paul

 

[FanChan]

You also should keep in mind that not all Catholic schools are terribly great in the religious education department. The bigger the Catholic school, it seems, the more liberal it gets. The most faithful Catholic schools seem to be the little ones attatched to a parish. I went to one of each, and nearly lost my faith at the large, liberal high school, thanks to the host of non-Catholic (and some borderline anti-catholic teachers). It was thanks to my dad’s fire for the faith at home that reeled me back in and has kept me safely secured ever since.

My advice, if there really are no little catholic grade schools, and homeschooling is absolutely out of the question, and the episcopal school truly does have a much higher level of education, send your child there, but keep your faith well alive. No matter where children go, especially young children, they will always look to their parents first. If they don’t see the faith alive in you, they will look elsewhere for it. But if they see the mystery of Christ burning in your heart in everything you do, they will certainly be drawn to it. Once they’re old enough, you can begin to engage with them about what they’re learning in school, and correct anything untrue.