Why don't Catholic Schools get more play on this board?

[Anonymous]

Non-Catholics, who make up about 75% of the population, are not usually interested in Catholic schools (rightly or wrongly), and Catholics who are interested in parish schools tend to have better sources of information than DCUM. I think that you will find more information about independent Catholic schools here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My house is very Catholic with several Ivy degrees...so not sure why someone would assume Catholics are not educated.

You didn't take Stats, did you?

[Anonymous]

Because anti-Catholicism is the last safe bigotry. Even so-called "educated" Washingtonians feel completely confident expressing their prejudice.

Signed,
Catholic school and Yale educated, thank you very much.

[Anonymous]

your point other than being rude. I was trying to help op understand and of course you clarified.

[Anonymous]

regarding post a few up. No the Yale mom/dad

[Anonymous]

Wow, original poster here. Thanks for the feedback. It would be nice if there was a place to truly discuss ins and outs, but I think a few posters are right, Catholic bashing is alive and well. (not that the Church doesn't help itself out here, I struggle with pedophile, stance towards women, role of the laity, etc, too, but I still identify as Catholic as much as I would like to think maybe I should just become an episcopal or Quaker or something).

My spouse comes from an area where Catholic schools are super well respected for tough academic standards. I am surprised that does not seem to be the case here.

[Anonymous]

21:54, it's not that they're not well-respected. It's that DCUM has one catholic bigot who is sock puppetting herself here, and maybe several high schoolers. Referring to the "stats" post above, the are are a tiny percent of the population, but it's an obnoxious and very loud percent.

I just reported 19:48 to Jeff (I'm not even catholic, but I'm really sick of her). If you feel like it, make the squeaky wheel yourself.

[Anonymous]

My kids are very happy at a local parish k-8 catholic school. Last year they scored in the 95% and 99% percentile in the achievement tests (same as given by mont county). I don't consider that second rate.

[Anonymous]

I'm the 18:03 poster and re-reading what I wrote, it is factual and, though maybe uncomfortable, it is not "bigoted."

I'm not a high school kid, either, but a 44 yr old woman who grew up in an extremely devout household (how many of you went to Mass on each holy day of obligation, hm?) and who attended Catholic schools.

I stand by what I said. Affluent NON-Catholics -- meaning they have a wide range of schools to choose from -- aren't going to pick a Catholic school over a secular one or a super lightly religious one. Why would they ? Would the Catholics reading this ever consider sending the kid to the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School? Of course not. And that doesn't make you a bigot. Me, I'm not going to try to get my son into one of the Muslim schools in NoVa, because that makes no sense.

Moving along, there just aren't that many Catholics in DC/Md./Va. Pew puts the figure at 18% for DC and Md.

http://religions.pewforum.org/maps

So only 1 in 5 people using DCUM, probably, would even consider a Catholic education in the first place.

[Anonymous]

I'm 8:22 and I didn't think 18:03 was bigotted, FWIW. 18:03 actually put some thought into her posts, unlike the "because they suck" poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am Catholic and expecting. My DH is not Catholic. He attends a Presbyterian church. We currently live in Chevy Chase in a small condo and are searching for a home. We are very interested in Catholic schools. I went to Catholic schools Pre-K-12 and loved my experience. My brother and mother both work for Catholic institutions--my brother at a Jesuit university and my mom at a prestigious, private Catholic all-girls school. I wish there was more information on the Catholic schools. I grew up in a heavily Catholic area where Catholic schools are very good and competitive and students go to top colleges each year. But more importantly, I want my child to grow up and be taught social justice and values at his or her school. And I am a very involved Catholic in my parish (a DC parish) and also very, very liberal (DH is very conservative and an evangelical Christian).

How did you two end up together? Oy!

Ditto!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this question. I've wondered this myself, since we are considering Catholic school as well, and I've been frustrated that questions about specific schools have been met with either crickets or helpful comments questioning my sanity, intelligence, etc. The (limited) useful feedback I've gotten on this site is that the best way to assess the local schools is to visit them individually. I think the Archdiocese is trying to make a push for more information on Catholic education, but I haven't seen the results yet. Good luck in your search. For those who do have kids in Catholic schools or are seriously considering it, please consider giving feedback. The worst that will happen is that some anonymous genius will tell you how stupid you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the 18:03 poster and re-reading what I wrote, it is factual and, though maybe uncomfortable, it is not "bigoted."

I'm not a high school kid, either, but a 44 yr old woman who grew up in an extremely devout household (how many of you went to Mass on each holy day of obligation, hm?) and who attended Catholic schools.

I stand by what I said. Affluent NON-Catholics -- meaning they have a wide range of schools to choose from -- aren't going to pick a Catholic school over a secular one or a super lightly religious one. Why would they ? Would the Catholics reading this ever consider sending the kid to the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School? Of course not. And that doesn't make you a bigot. Me, I'm not going to try to get my son into one of the Muslim schools in NoVa, because that makes no sense.

Moving along, there just aren't that many Catholics in DC/Md./Va. Pew puts the figure at 18% for DC and Md.

http://religions.pewforum.org/maps

So only 1 in 5 people using DCUM, probably, would even consider a Catholic education in the first place.

I agree that your original post is factual. FWIW, we are not poor, yet I did consider sending my DC to Catholic school because I did not want my child to only go to school with rich kids. I am Episcopalian, but it was DH, a bitter ex Catholic who fought me on this. But what really made me decide it was a fight I didn't want to fight was I realized how uncomfortable I would be with the mandatory religion class in Catholic schools. However, if religion class had been negotiable , I might have seriously considered it. And I live in an affluent suburb with safe and supposedly "good" public schools.

[Anonymous]

To answer your question OP -- I think people don't write as much about Catholic Schools on this board is for many of the reasons people here have already outlined as well as the fact most aren't as exclusive...so people aren't stressing as much about whether they will be accepted. Getting into a local parish school doesn't normally take Herculean efforts. Some of the elite Catholic Schools do cause stress however...Visi for example. It seems every girl is trying to get in there from the local parish schools as well as many non-Catholics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because people on here want their kids to go to a Ivy. Catholic school kids typically don't go Ivy. Catholic schools aren't as prestigious as the exclusive privates. Also if yoy aren't Catholic why send your kid to a Catholic school?

Pop Quiz: (1) How many Supreme Court Justices are Catholic? (2) How many of them have Ivy League degrees? (3) How many of them attended Catholic elementary and/or secondary schools?

Answers: (1) 5 of 9 (that's a majority, for those who didn't take statistics). (2) All 5. All law school ives, some also college ivies. (3) 4 out of 5 (only Kennedy attended public).