Catholic instead of Public

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with kids in big co-ed Catholic schools—how do you see them as different from public schools? Assuming both have large student bodies and offer the same kinds of activities, and your child is doing great academically either way… why choose the private (and pricey) route if you're not specifically seeking a religious focus? What do you feel you get from it?

Most succinct way to sum it up: big, co-ed Catholic schools remind me of what my public high school was in the 1980s/early 1990s. Discipline is enforced; disrespectful, disruptive or violent behavior is not tolerated; the school doesn't insert trendy political/sexual stuff into the environment (although there is a religion class and of course there are the Christian principles that are part of the school messaging, which we are fine with); etc. The vibe is actually "nicer" and more friendly than what I remember from my public school days and what we experienced in FCPS when our kids were there.

+100
This is exactly our experience with Catholic school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools in the DMV are a waste of money

What if your local public sucks. And you don’t have the money for prep or sidwell?

Any MCPS HS is better.

If you feel that way, then just stay and enjoy your school, including the:

-locked bathrooms
-frequent fights
-overcrowded class sizes
-mold infested portable classrooms
-lockdowns, bomb scares, gun scares
-frequent standardized testing (waste of time)
-gender dysphoria in a third of the population
-severe grade inflation
-over exposure to AP classes and consequent student burnout (for motivated students)
-lack of writing instruction/little to no feedback on submitted papers and essays
-over exposure to unmotivated students and risk of your student becoming one

I could go on.

I assume the W public schools don’t have these problems, except overcrowding.

Colleague's DC both attended Wooton. He reported the locked bathrooms, fights, standardized tests, promotion of gender dysphoria, but not most of the others.

His kids experience also was that their school had little grade inflation (other than the weighting for AP) in the AP classes, a lot of Asian kids who were competing aggressively on academics, and that lots of kids were getting outside school math supplements.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Catholic school parent here. I just love how some posters say it’s a matter of priorities and isn’t it great when parents value education. As if most parents of kids in public don’t value it. So inaccurate and condescending.

This. I would never send my child to a Catholic school because we're not Catholic. We didn't even consider it--it wasn't even an option for us.

I considered it for my child. I grew up Catholic and love the Catholic Social Teachings. When my kid came out as gay, I decided it was a bad idea. Keep that aspect in mind.

It has to happen that gay kids are in or come out in Catholic middle or high schools. I’m curious how the admin/teachers/students respond

There are LGBTQ+ kids at most Catholic schools. In our experience, they just don't make a big deal of it. No parades or flags, just another kid in the class like anyone else. Comply with dress code like everyone else. Go to prom like everyone else. Play whichever roles in the theater you want (and get picked for).

I get why some would see to avoid it, though.

Boys go to prom with boys and girls with girls, or not?

Nowadays, it’s not a requirement to have actual dates for the prom and homecoming. If they’re not dating anyone in particular, kids will go in a group with friends of both or either sexes. Girls that don’t have boyfriends will opt to go with friends that are girls, and same with the boys. No one thinks anything more than that and no one is singled out as being different. I like that not a big deal is made of kids not going as romantic couples.

I love this! It’s fun to get dressed up and be with friends.

That sounds like so much fun, compared to my old private which enforced "dates" or you couldn't attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic school parent here. I just love how some posters say it’s a matter of priorities and isn’t it great when parents value education. As if most parents of kids in public don’t value it. So inaccurate and condescending.

This. I would never send my child to a Catholic school because we're not Catholic. We didn't even consider it--it wasn't even an option for us.

I considered it for my child. I grew up Catholic and love the Catholic Social Teachings. When my kid came out as gay, I decided it was a bad idea. Keep that aspect in mind.

It has to happen that gay kids are in or come out in Catholic middle or high schools. I’m curious how the admin/teachers/students respond

There are LGBTQ+ kids at most Catholic schools. In our experience, they just don't make a big deal of it. No parades or flags, just another kid in the class like anyone else. Comply with dress code like everyone else. Go to prom like everyone else. Play whichever roles in the theater you want (and get picked for).

I get why some would see to avoid it, though.

Boys go to prom with boys and girls with girls, or not?

Nowadays, it’s not a requirement to have actual dates for the prom and homecoming. If they’re not dating anyone in particular, kids will go in a group with friends of both or either sexes. Girls that don’t have boyfriends will opt to go with friends that are girls, and same with the boys. No one thinks anything more than that and no one is singled out as being different. I like that not a big deal is made of kids not going as romantic couples.

I love this! It’s fun to get dressed up and be with friends.

That sounds like so much fun, compared to my old private which enforced "dates" or you couldn't attend.

I’m glad that it’s changed now too! I wonder if it’s the same with the public schools’ dances too?

[MamaCCG]

Catholic elementary school is great if you’re cool with huge classes, think all kids are auditory learners and like doing hours of homework every night.

[Anonymous]

MamaCCG wrote:Catholic elementary school is great if you’re cool with huge classes, think all kids are auditory learners and like doing hours of homework every night.

This isn’t true at my kids k-8 parochial school. A lot of classes have less than 20 kids in them.

[Anonymous]

MamaCCG wrote:Catholic elementary school is great if you’re cool with huge classes, think all kids are auditory learners and like doing hours of homework every night.

The 3 nearby Catholic elementary schools we visited had class sizes between 20-25. There was some homework, but the amount seemed reasonable to us. We are not Catholic, instead protestant, and live in an FCPS area.

[Anonymous]

MamaCCG wrote:Catholic elementary school is great if you’re cool with huge classes, think all kids are auditory learners and like doing hours of homework every night.

This isn’t true from our experience, either.

I find that the K-8 experience in our Catholic school is similar to what I remember growing up in the late 80s: an emphasis on the foundational skills (grammar, multiplication tables, penmanship, etc.) as well as clear expectations for behavior. I also appreciate our school doesn’t overly rely on technology.

We’re also non-Catholic and have found the community to be very welcoming.

[Anonymous]

Same with us. We aren’t Catholic but love our kids Catholic elementary. The teaching philosophy Reminds me of my public school experience from the 80s. Worked for me…it will work for my kids too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

MamaCCG wrote:Catholic elementary school is great if you’re cool with huge classes, think all kids are auditory learners and like doing hours of homework every night.

The 3 nearby Catholic elementary schools we visited had class sizes between 20-25. There was some homework, but the amount seemed reasonable to us. We are not Catholic, instead protestant, and live in an FCPS area.

I think it depends on what your public is like. We've been in ours in different years and class size was 21 one year and 17 for the other kid. Local Catholic schools told me they shoot for 21-22 in each class. We have seen pretty much zero homework in public school and friends with kids in older grades have said they still don't have homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

MamaCCG wrote:Catholic elementary school is great if you’re cool with huge classes, think all kids are auditory learners and like doing hours of homework every night.

The 3 nearby Catholic elementary schools we visited had class sizes between 20-25. There was some homework, but the amount seemed reasonable to us. We are not Catholic, instead protestant, and live in an FCPS area.

I think it depends on what your public is like. We've been in ours in different years and class size was 21 one year and 17 for the other kid. Local Catholic schools told me they shoot for 21-22 in each class. We have seen pretty much zero homework in public school and friends with kids in older grades have said they still don't have homework.

We’re in Catholic but be clear that homework in elementary is not an indicator of rigor. Education Literature is clear that the only homework that adds value in elementary is reading everyday (20-30 mins). Homework especially in lower grades can backfire causing resistance and burnout. They spend all day in school learning and their brains need breaks with play, being outside and connection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

MamaCCG wrote:Catholic elementary school is great if you’re cool with huge classes, think all kids are auditory learners and like doing hours of homework every night.

The 3 nearby Catholic elementary schools we visited had class sizes between 20-25. There was some homework, but the amount seemed reasonable to us. We are not Catholic, instead protestant, and live in an FCPS area.

I think it depends on what your public is like. We've been in ours in different years and class size was 21 one year and 17 for the other kid. Local Catholic schools told me they shoot for 21-22 in each class. We have seen pretty much zero homework in public school and friends with kids in older grades have said they still don't have homework.

My kids went to public for elementary and middle school, and attended Sunday school at the local catholic K-8. I remember laughing when the teacher apologized that there were 18 kids in one section, as they had to bring in extra desks from a different classroom. It was the smallest class my kid had ever had, and at the Catholic school they never had a class that big.