Independent Catholic school

[commenter]

My diocese still has over a dozen Catholic high schools, some sponsored by a religious order, some originally operated by the diocese itself, but now autonomous. These are listed as “The Catholic schools” and promoted by the Diocese. In order to be a “recognized” Catholic school, they follow a religious curriculum (very, very minimal doctrine, in my opinion) approved by the diocese. They also have a morning prayer, several liturgies each year, and a ministry office, which tend to serve small numbers of students. Othewise they heavily follow the public school curriculum. Only one high school had a prolife apostolate. Many had Peace and Justice. The Diocese itself promotes Catholic high schools with one slogan: that 98% of graduates go to college.

Many parents prefer public schools, which tend to ignore religion, rather than schools that have Religious Studies classes ambiguous about Catholicism. Others homeschool. This year a group of parents is trying to start a new school. These are not dissenters, they are fully in obedience with Pope Francis and our own bishop. The message from the bishop is “good luck, but I can’t *openly *support you”. The message from the diocesan education department is discouraging, but they can’t stop us; they don’t want anyone competing with “their” schools. Our school has to be advertised as “independent school in the Catholic tradition”; it won’t be a “recognized” Catholic school.

The new school will feature Theology, not Religious Studies; daily Mass; Philosophy; History, not Social Studies; some Latin, etc. Does anyone have any experience with “Independent schools in the Catholic Tradition”? It feels awkward, we are trying to be loyal to the Church, but we aren’t part of the “establishment” in the Diocese.

 

[Corki]

My children attended such a school for a while. They formed, in large part, out of a desire to use a curriculum different than the “approved” diocesan one. Our diocese follows the state curriculum and then overlays religion onto it. (not very successfully) We have a few elementary schools and at least one high school in our diocese that operate outside the official Catholic school system.

Feel free to send me a PM if you want more specifics.

 

[robwar]

I know the arch diocese I live in does have an independent Catholic School which has been in existence for over 100 years. I wish that i lived closer to it because they make a better effort than the usual diocese school in helping and accommodating special needs children. I would look at that angle for your school as well. I also wish that Catholic schools at the elementary level would offer things like Latin as well. So they are out there and deal with a different angles than the standard which is usually the public school stuff with religion thrown in. There is a big need out there for Catholic School to do more outreach to the special ed students. I think it is too easy for Catholic schools to focus only on the super duper type students and then turn around the point to themselves as how great they are. But any school can work and teach to straight A type student. It takes the special kind that wants to work with all students of all types and bring them along to be successful. Charter Schools do that, I wish more Catholic Schools would. My daughter did attend one Charter school that taught Latin as the basis of the English language and a start for classical studies. Good luck!

 

[TimothyH]

Many had Peace and Justice.

What’s wrong with peace and justice? All sin is injustice and all injustice is sin. A perfectly just world would have no sin. A world without sin would be perfectly just. When you fight for justice and peace you automatically fight against sin.

The new school will feature Theology, not Religious Studies; daily Mass; Philosophy; History, not Social Studies; some Latin, etc. Does anyone have any experience with “Independent schools in the Catholic Tradition”? It feels awkward, we are trying to be loyal to the Church, but we aren’t part of the “establishment” in the Diocese.

How are you going to have Mass without the support of the diocese?

-Tim-

 

[phil19034]

The message from the bishop is “good luck, but I can’t openly support you”.

I’m sure what your Bishop means is that he can’t provide you with free advertising and he can’t help with money. While protecting the diocese’s schools might be one reason, another is to distance to Diocese from the school in case of a law suit.

Two examples I can think of:

1. In my parent’s diocese, a group of parents were working to establish an independent Catholic school (which everyone strongly felt was needed). But after raising lots of money, the group started to fail. The Diocese wound up taking over, took the money and built the school themselves. The high school opened as and still is a Diocesan High School (which might be one situation your Bishop wants to avoid).
2. In the Archdiocese I live in, they used to list all of the independent Catholic schools on its website, in a separate section (we have a ton of them). But they are no longer listed. They were most-likely removed to (1) help promote the Archdiocesan high schools, but also (2) so they would cut down on the calls/complaints/inquires/law suits/etc regarding the independent schools. Kind of the same reason they don’t list Catholic Hospitals on their site (though they still list the Catholic Colleges/Universities).

God Bless.

 

[robwar]

one quick question for OP, when you mean independent school, you are still with Roman Catholic and not SSPX which do have some schools connected with their parishes? I also know some of those Churches have schools but are not with Roman Catholic.

 

[Casilda]

If your bishop says that 98%go on to college, it means that the schools are accredited and with that comes a lot of legal junk like using state approved curriculum. They are ‘allowed’ to throw in some religious stuff but are at the mercy of bureau-educrats. Lutheran schools are the same, pre-k, elem and middle schools run by the local church are excellent, but the high schools stand alone and go with accreditation and lose the religious formation.

 

[Corki]

What’s wrong with peace and justice? All sin is injustice and all injustice is sin. A perfectly just world would have no sin. A world without sin would be perfectly just. When you fight for justice and peace you automatically fight against sin.

I may be speaking out of turn but I think he was just commenting on the large number of peace and justice groups vs. only one pro-life one.

How are you going to have Mass without the support of the diocese?

The OP’s experience might be different but when my children went to an independent Catholic school, there was never a shortage of priests. They had retired priests, religious order priests and visiting priests as well as parish priests who were supportive of the school. As long as the priest has permission to say Mass and the Bishop hasn’t forbidden it, it isn’t necessary to have specific diocesan support to hold Mass.

 

[commenter]

Thanks for the feedback.

1. The people hoping to get this school off the ground are not part of SSPX or any other separate group. They belong to “regular” parishes, are in diocesan ministries, especially prolife.
2. The bishop has not restricted it, so priests can say Mass there.
3. Some of the leaders are themselves current or former parochial school educators who say there is no chance to restore Catholic identity to most of the mainstream Catholic schools.
4. Our curriculum seems more authentically Catholic than what’s offered in the diocesan or religious order schools.Why would a diocese keep telling parents “Here are your Catholic schools” when it is now mostly untrue (except some good teachers here and there). Isn’t THAT taking a risk for the diocese? It seems the current diocesan policy to pretend that every school is as Catholic as it was 50 years ago is riskier than recognizing our school as Catholic.

 

[TimothyH]

I may be speaking out of turn but I think he was just commenting on the large number of peace and justice groups vs. only one pro-life one.

That really doesn’t address my question. All injustice is sin and all sin is injustice.What’s wrong with peace and justice?

The OP’s experience might be different but when my children went to an independent Catholic school, there was never a shortage of priests. They had retired priests, religious order priests and visiting priests as well as parish priests who were supportive of the school. As long as the priest has permission to say Mass and the Bishop hasn’t forbidden it, it isn’t necessary to have specific diocesan support to hold Mass.

That is interesting. So does the chapel have to be approved by the bishop?

I believe that there is some oversight from the bishop of some kind if the Blessed Sacrament is to be reposed. Did the school keep the Blessed Sacrament in repose?

-Tim-

 

[TimothyH]

Thanks for the feedback.

1. The people hoping to get this school off the ground are not part of SSPX or any other separate group. They belong to “regular” parishes, are in diocesan ministries, especially prolife.
2. The bishop has not restricted it, so priests can say Mass there.
3. Some of the leaders are themselves current or former parochial school educators who say there is no chance to restore Catholic identity to most of the mainstream Catholic schools.
4. Our curriculum seems more authentically Catholic than what’s offered in the diocesan or religious order schools.Why would a diocese keep telling parents “Here are your Catholic schools” when it is now mostly untrue (except some good teachers here and there). Isn’t THAT taking a risk for the diocese? It seems the current diocesan policy to pretend that every school is as Catholic as it was 50 years ago is riskier than recognizing our school as Catholic.

Depending on where you live, you may want to look into a school run by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia AKA Nashville Dominicans. Orthodox all the way, and full of joy.
They take my daughter to monthly confession, first Friday adoration, etc.

nashvilledominican.org/

-Tim-

 

[Corki]

That really doesn’t address my question. All injustice is sin and all sin is injustice.What’s wrong with peace and justice?

Nothing wrong with it - it just seems to be stressed disproportionately.

That is interesting. So does the chapel have to be approved by the bishop?

I believe that there is some oversight from the bishop of some kind if the Blessed Sacrament is to be reposed. Did the school keep the Blessed Sacrament in repose?

I don’t think the chapel has to be approved. After all, there are many private chapels, even in homes. But reserving the Blessed Sacrament must be approved. The independent school did not have that permission. The high school my kids later attended, did. But another high school, fully official and approved by the diocese, did not.

 

[commenter]

As it happens, we are renting space from a Catholic parish that has a closed grade school.So students will join the parish’s morning Mass and/or the pastor may say a special Mass for them some of the time. Since the bishop has to approve rentals on parish property, the only formal relationship with the diocese is an indirect landlord(!) Ironically if the school had located in a Protestant church, or a closed public school ,we wouldn’t need even that minimal relationship - though a relationship with the diocese would be desired. Everything is so backwards.

The pastor is a supporter of home schoolers, so he is favorable; we will likely draw most students from home schoolers. The school is not affiliated with the parish.

 

[TimothyH]

As it happens, we are renting space from a Catholic parish that has a closed grade school.So students will join the parish’s morning Mass and/or the pastor may say a special Mass for them some of the time. Since the bishop has to approve rentals on parish property, the only formal relationship with the diocese is an indirect landlord(!) Ironically if the school had located in a Protestant church, or a closed public school ,we wouldn’t need even that minimal relationship - though a relationship with the diocese would be desired. Everything is so backwards.

The pastor is a supporter of home schoolers, so he is favorable; we will likely draw most students from home schoolers. The school is not affiliated with the parish.

That explains a lot. It sounds like a lot of work. Good luck.

-Tim-

 

[TimothyH]

Nothing wrong with it - it just seems to be stressed disproportionately.

The article “Recovering a Wider Sense of Justice” by Msgr Charles Pope helped me understand that personal morality and social justice are not two different issues. It also helped me to be able to discern real Christian justice (rendering to someone what is theirs by right) from what is really just liberal politics.

Msgr. Pope’s articles are always excellent.

-Tim-

 

[robwar]

As it happens, we are renting space from a Catholic parish that has a closed grade school.So students will join the parish’s morning Mass and/or the pastor may say a special Mass for them some of the time. Since the bishop has to approve rentals on parish property, the only formal relationship with the diocese is an indirect landlord(!) Ironically if the school had located in a Protestant church, or a closed public school ,we wouldn’t need even that minimal relationship - though a relationship with the diocese would be desired. Everything is so backwards.

The pastor is a supporter of home schoolers, so he is favorable; we will likely draw most students from home schoolers. The school is not affiliated with the parish.

I wish you the best in your efforts! Nothing wrong with starting small and growing slowly.

 

[filiusprodigus]

There is an organization, The National Association of Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS), that you may wish to look into. The mission of the organization is, according to their website, “the solidarity, strength and security of small schools teaching the Catholic Faith. NAPCIS seeks to assist in providing for the spiritual and academic growth of our nation’s Catholic school children, all directed to the greater honor and glory of God and the perpetuity of His Church on Earth.” They further state that, “Fulfillment of this purpose comes through consistent and intelligent adherence to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and from the implementation of reasonable and demonstrated practices of education.”

Some of the schools, such as Providence Academy in La Crosse, Wisconsin, use a classical education (in the catholic tradition) approach to teaching. This includes:

Latin and Greek from K – 12th grades
Phonics, reading, grammar, spelling, science and arithmetic
Poetry memorization and recitation
Ancient, Medieval, European and American history
Daily Mass, weekly benediction and monthly confession in faithfulness to the Magisterium
Rhetoric, Logic and Critical thinking - this certainly is not in the common core
Virtues and good manner training
Academics and faith are rewarding and fun

Hope this helps!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Joseph

 

[skeyes]

Commenter,
I just happen to be going to the home of a member of the Board of Director of a Private Catholic School in Lafayette, Louisiana this evening. The school is about 7 years old now. I can ask the member of the board to reach out to you if email me or PM me soon. The meeting is tonight.

The school is preK through 12. My daughter attended 11th and 12th. She had to take a GED to enter college, but I think the school is now accredited.

Stan

 

[commenter]

Just an update for those who read my earlier thread. We DID succeed in getting our school open. We have the approval of the bishop, but we have to list it as “an Independent School in the Catholic Tradition”. The head of our diocesan education department strongly discouraged us from opening, due to other local Catholic schools struggling for enrollment. We are not promoted in any way by the Diocese, the diocesan newspaper won’t even publicize an event related to the school. The local EWTN radio affiliate does promote us.

Our argument is that the existing Catholic high schools have been more or less secularized - the girls’ schools the worst, the coed and boys’ schools less so - and fail to offer much alternative to public schools. I do know there are some faithful teachers in that system, but I am referring to the parochial schools overall.

Our school has daily Mass, 4 years of Philosophy, at least 2 years of Latin, reading of the Classics (both religious and secular), Theology (not religious studies) and History (not Social Studies). All teachers took an oath of fidelity to the Magisterium. It is not in any way related to any group, liberal or conservative, that dissents from the Pope and Bishops. However, the people involved overlap with Catholic radio, prolife, homeschoolers, and similar types.

It’s not easy - our teachers are only modestly compensated, they have to hold other jobs. I can see they will be stressed. The building (a former, closed parish grade school) needed far more work than expected to pass inspections. They badly need volunteers, have a couple retired teachers, as the students come from very different backgrounds and preparations. There is gym, but no inter scholastic sports program. We rent the space from a parish; not a parish ministry, but the pastor is supportive.

Just wanted to give an update, to show people that it can be done, and to thank folks for their prayers and encouragements.

 

[manualman]

It really is sad, isn’t it that so many catholic schools are satisfied with secularized mediocrity. Here’s an example of what appears to be a great independent catholic high school in the Chicago North Burbs: gkchestertonacademychicago.wordpress.com/overview-curriculum/

WHY do catholics have to go to such great lengths to get a genuinely catholic educational experience for our kids? Why can’t we get these things from the catholic school system that already exists and needs little more than some energy and vision?

I’m lucky to have found such a diocesan k-8 school for my kids, but not everybody has one nearby: holycross-batavia.org/hccs/index.php/curriculum

It boggles my mind why we don’t make ALL catholic schools this good.