Starting Catholic School in Fall & Feeling Nervous

[Avocadomom]

It amuses me no end how people take their data points of 2-3 catholic schools and presume to then characterize ALL catholics schools from that. It’s as silly as characterizing ALL black people based on your experience with a few!

Years ago, I did youth retreats with NET Ministries in parishes and catholic schools around the country. I came to the following conclusion:

1. The best schools out there for evangelizing and catechizing young people are catholic schools.
2. The worst schools out there for the spiritual wellbeing of young people are also catholic schools.

Just not the same schools! Just because the both are called “St. Somebody” doesn’t make them the same. A catholic school that takes it’s catholic identity 100% seriously and faithfully is the best thing out there. They exist, my kids go to one (and it’s not the closest one to my house, either). These are category #1 above. Mass is frequent (daily is best), classes go to confession, celebrate saint feast days, are routinely visited by the priests in classrooms and the admin considers the faith fidelity of teacher applicants in hiring criteria.

On the other hand, schools that CALL themselves catholic, but are really just private schools with some superficial catholic veneer added after the fact are a disaster. There kids learn that the catholic faith is not something adults take seriously, nor something to trust your soul to. They are inoculated against the faith instead of nurtured in it.

They really aren’t all THAT hard to tell apart, but you do need to look beyond the superficial. Ask to see the religion textbooks: Faith & Life = Fantastic. “Blest Are We” = (IMO) fuzzy bunny catechesis. Not good. Find out how often all school masses occur. How often do the classes go to confession? How are saint feast days celebrated? Blank looks in response to these questions are NOT a good sign! Show up to school half an hour before kids arrive and have a look at the teachers cars in the parking lot: Not the brands, the bumper stickers! It says a lot!

Exactly. When we toured our school, it was lunchtime. When I heard the whole school go silent while they prayed the Angelus over the PA system, I knew we were home!

 

[Agnesbelle]

Thanks, everyone, for your insight. I’ve already committed to this school for a year but have only heard positive things from people whose kids attend or who have relatives with kids there. Actually, our priest recommended this school and I trust his judgment.

It’s really the transition process that has me feeling anxious. Someone asked my my son was angry. He’s actually mostly settled into acceptance now. Initially, he was upset about leaving his friends but after touring several of the Catholic schools, he saw how much nicer they were than the public school he began to want to go to one of them and of course he had a favorite. The school he was accepted to was his least favorite. It isn’t as new and bright, no guitar lessons or iPads. It’s pretty bare bones compared to two of the other Catholic schools we toured and applied to. Also, when he went for the academic admissions test and interview at this school, he said the teacher who administered the test made him uncomfortable and that she wasn’t friendly. On the positive side, it’s more ethnically diverse which was a concern for my son, and I think it has fewer wealthy families.

Hopefully, I’ll receive a directory soon and can try to connect with families near us so he can make some friends before school starts.

Thanks again!

 

[felsguy]

Hopefully, I’ll receive a directory soon and can try to connect with families near us so he can make some friends before school starts.

I was just about to suggest this. You might ask the principal or one of the teachers to point you to a family or two which would be most helpful at this and perhaps even make the initial contact for you. As the spouse of a recently retired teacher in the upper grades in Catholic elementary schools for 40 years, I am well aware it can be difficult, at least at first, for students transferring in at the upper level (think parish with a very large military contingent) so it’s well that you are being proactive in this case.

And I won’t even dignify the nasty comments about Catholic schools with anything more than suggesting you “consider the source.”:yawn:

 

[synesthesia77]

I have been enrolled in Catholic school ever since I started going to school up until college. Many of my friends who transferred in from a public school love it, but there are a few who dislike this kind of environment. I’ve noticed that because of the smaller classes, everyone knows everyone-- which made it easy to become friends; but also, for rumors to spread like wildfire. There is a variety of people and “cliques” that each person can naturally fit in with, but like I said-- it’s nice because you are kind of friends with everyone.

One of the most difficult parts would be to hangout outside of school. Most other classmates can love quite far away.

I didn’t notice it at the time either, but I felt very prepared for high school and college because the teachers really care more about their students. I was accepted into every college I applied for, one of them, an Ivy.

There were some (many) days I’d become very disgruntled with my parents, and ask them if I could go to a public high school instead because there were more people and it looked like fun. But if I could go back, I wouldn’t change anything. I’m still very good friends with one girl from grade school, and several from high school. Catholic school was a good fit for me.