Would a non-Catholic feel comfortable at Bishop Ireton?

[Anonymous]

As said above,the Archdiocese of Arlington is very conservative - sometimes said to be the most conservative in the nation - if you are OK with that, apply.

St John's in DC has a bus from N. VA. Perhaps it would feel less conservative.

[Anonymous]

Accepting all faiths and teaching about your faith are different things. You can be accommodating to allow other points of view while still asserting catholic teachings. Why even have a catholic school if you're not going to teach the faith? Would you expect a jewish high school not to be primarily jewish and teaching about jewish history and religion? I hear stories about OLGC in Olney and feel those schools might as well sever their tie with the catholic church with the way they dismiss teachings and fill their athletic rosters from all over the world just to have top talent. OP, you'd probably feel more comfortable in that type of school, but in my mind those are just private schools pretending to also be catholic schools.

[Anonymous]

OP, BI is known to have strong academics. It's more Catholic than GU, for sure. There required religion courses are more Catholic and attending Mass as a school could be viewed as a big and social part of the community -- something non-Catholics must attend but usually don't participte in. Otherwise, your kid will be treated like everyone else is my guess. If I lived in Alexandria, I'd definitely consider BI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As said above,the Archdiocese of Arlington is very conservative - sometimes said to be the most conservative in the nation - if you are OK with that, apply.

St John's in DC has a bus from N. VA. Perhaps it would feel less conservative.

The first sentence is uninformed jibberish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It would be great to hear from families that actually have kids at Bishop Ireton (as opposed to people who don't know anything about the school but just have strong opinions on Catholicism and Catholic schools).

I'm a Georgetown grad, and the school's Jesuit identity had zero impact on the classroom environment or the social environment; while I had many Catholic friends, some more religious than others, the fact that I was not Catholic felt like a complete non-issue for me. I'd be quite happy for my kids to go to a Catholic school that was welcoming to families of all faiths and not focused on proselytizing, and I know many such schools exist. What I am trying to find out is whether Bishop Ireton is one of them.

Thanks.

OP, I was the first PP to respond in this thread. I do think my post was relevant. My experience with BI is through an academic club. I was the head of a local public school's counterpart to BI's club. I did "see" Roman Catholic ideas and culture in the way the club was managed - the outlook of the leader on competition, on how a team should work together, and in some cases, the content of the academic product). (In my opinion, these were a positive.) The fact that BI competes (and in some cases, collaborates with) with non-Catholic schools in club activities should give you an answer in part.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have a friend who moved her child to BI from a public MS in FCPS (for HS). This was one of the "average" HSs in FCPS, not one of the "great" ones. Her child was lucky to get in (based on his less than stellar academic past). She said that the academics at BI were not any better than the FCPS HS (friend also had another high-achieving child who has since graduated from the FCPS HS). Friend, like you was not a practicing Catholic, although her kids were baptized... (not sure if they had Holy Communion). Definitely not church goers. Although DC is/was popular b/c of his non-academic talents, he never really felt like he was "in" the crowd b/c he didn't come from the feeder grade schools.

The Arlington Diocese IS very conservative compared to other Catholic dioceses. Regardless of whether the school teachings will ruffle your feather (and they probably will), how do you think your child will handle the religious classes and regular church/being one of the non-Catholics?

I went to a Catholic ES and HS in another state. There was one non-Catholic kid, but he was good at sports and well liked and the kind of person who could go with the flow, and had long had friends who were Catholic. So, it wasn't abrasive to him at all. But, your kids may be at a different place regarding religion. Something to think about -- how will you address what you are asking them to do (re: attending/participating/classes) and what you don't believe in yourself? Will your beliefs undermine their willingness to assimilate or participate?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks all. I think we are probably going to rule Ireton out-- doesn't sound right for our family. That was my initial instinct, but wanted a gut check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Accepting all faiths and teaching about your faith are different things. You can be accommodating to allow other points of view while still asserting catholic teachings. Why even have a catholic school if you're not going to teach the faith? Would you expect a jewish high school not to be primarily jewish and teaching about jewish history and religion? I hear stories about OLGC in Olney and feel those schools might as well sever their tie with the catholic church with the way they dismiss teachings and fill their athletic rosters from all over the world just to have top talent. OP, you'd probably feel more comfortable in that type of school, but in my mind those are just private schools pretending to also be catholic schools.

In his or her original post, the OP stated that the family was not Catholic and that they were not at all religious. They were concerned about sending their DC to the public schools and were looking for an alternative. That's not uncommon on DCUM. Non-Catholic families are worried about the public schools and are looking for lower cost alternatives to the private schools. Catholic schools seem to fill that gap. But the parents are concerned about getting too big a dose of Catholic teaching. None of that icky (or Stupid" as one poster called it) Catholicism for us, that you.

They don't seem to understand the purpose of Catholic schools. All they know is that they have a problem and are shopping around for a solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepting all faiths and teaching about your faith are different things. You can be accommodating to allow other points of view while still asserting catholic teachings. Why even have a catholic school if you're not going to teach the faith? Would you expect a jewish high school not to be primarily jewish and teaching about jewish history and religion? I hear stories about OLGC in Olney and feel those schools might as well sever their tie with the catholic church with the way they dismiss teachings and fill their athletic rosters from all over the world just to have top talent. OP, you'd probably feel more comfortable in that type of school, but in my mind those are just private schools pretending to also be catholic schools.

In his or her original post, the OP stated that the family was not Catholic and that they were not at all religious. They were concerned about sending their DC to the public schools and were looking for an alternative. That's not uncommon on DCUM. Non-Catholic families are worried about the public schools and are looking for lower cost alternatives to the private schools. Catholic schools seem to fill that gap. But the parents are concerned about getting too big a dose of Catholic teaching. None of that icky (or Stupid" as one poster called it) Catholicism for us, that you.

They don't seem to understand the purpose of Catholic schools. All they know is that they have a problem and are shopping around for a solution.

If that bothers you so much, why don't you write all the Catholic Schools in America and ask the Catholic schools to stop charging the more expensive, sometimes double, non-Catholic rate? Seriously, you keep saying this and saying this and it is simply not true. If you don't like the system, then get the Catholic Schools to stop accepting non-Catholics and charging the higher rates. Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:in general we have no interest in sending them to a religious school.

I think you answered your own question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It would be great to hear from families that actually have kids at Bishop Ireton (as opposed to people who don't know anything about the school but just have strong opinions on Catholicism and Catholic schools).

I'm a Georgetown grad, and the school's Jesuit identity had zero impact on the classroom environment or the social environment; while I had many Catholic friends, some more religious than others, the fact that I was not Catholic felt like a complete non-issue for me. I'd be quite happy for my kids to go to a Catholic school that was welcoming to families of all faiths and not focused on proselytizing, and I know many such schools exist. What I am trying to find out is whether Bishop Ireton is one of them.

Thanks.

We are Georgetown grads and we have a recent graduate from BI. BI is kind of like Georgetown in that it is as Catholic as you want it to be. I think they have an early daily mass in the chapel, but DS never once went. The sacraments are over by high school so non-Catholics aren't excluded from anything, except Communion at the occasional mass. Students do have to take a religion class all four years, but those cover a lot more than just Catholicism. In general, the BI kids seem to be very welcoming of others and form a very tight community that includes the non-Catholic kids. DS has some non-Catholic friends from BI, but I have no insight into how many non-Catholics are actually there.

The clerical presence has been decreasing of late. The last priest as principal left about six years ago. There is one priest who serves as a chaplain and a couple of elderly sisters, but the rest is lay. It still retains a Salesian identity, though, in a good way. I don't think there is any proselytizing at all - not that I ever heard of. It's definitely not that kind of school.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and to the anti-Catholic poster: "Bless your heart." (Take that the Virginia way)

[Anonymous]

Thanks 11:38 for the very helpful post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepting all faiths and teaching about your faith are different things. You can be accommodating to allow other points of view while still asserting catholic teachings. Why even have a catholic school if you're not going to teach the faith? Would you expect a jewish high school not to be primarily jewish and teaching about jewish history and religion? I hear stories about OLGC in Olney and feel those schools might as well sever their tie with the catholic church with the way they dismiss teachings and fill their athletic rosters from all over the world just to have top talent. OP, you'd probably feel more comfortable in that type of school, but in my mind those are just private schools pretending to also be catholic schools.

In his or her original post, the OP stated that the family was not Catholic and that they were not at all religious. They were concerned about sending their DC to the public schools and were looking for an alternative. That's not uncommon on DCUM. Non-Catholic families are worried about the public schools and are looking for lower cost alternatives to the private schools. Catholic schools seem to fill that gap. But the parents are concerned about getting too big a dose of Catholic teaching. None of that icky (or Stupid" as one poster called it) Catholicism for us, that you.

They don't seem to understand the purpose of Catholic schools. All they know is that they have a problem and are shopping around for a solution.

If that bothers you so much, why don't you write all the Catholic Schools in America and ask the Catholic schools to stop charging the more expensive, sometimes double, non-Catholic rate? Seriously, you keep saying this and saying this and it is simply not true. If you don't like the system, then get the Catholic Schools to stop accepting non-Catholics and charging the higher rates. Done.

You miss the point.

Even at the higher Protestant rate, the Catholic schools are still a bargain versus the alternatives. And that's why Protestants end up at Catholic schools.

The Catholics aren't all stupid. We know why you are there. You are hitch-hiking om a system meant to propagate the Faith and build and unite the Catholic community.

While the Catholics are sending their kids to Catholic schools because we believe in their fundamental mission, sometimes at great sacrifice, for you it's a convenience. It's the result of your own cost-benefit analysis.

I know you don't think there is anything wrong with that or if you do, you just don't care. As long as you get yours.

[Anonymous]

No worries, PP, I will stay very far away from any school you like.