Catholic instead of Public

[Anonymous]

I am supportive of teachers unions, but a Catholic school can fire a teacher at will. I have seen some teachers/coaches let go mid-year at my son's Catholic co-ed high school.
I avoided a very good public school because of mental health concerns. My child needs structure and a setting where the adults are clearly in charge.
I liked the uniforms as a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are no good zoned public schools around here. There are only good programs within those schools. If you don’t agree with me then you are either oblivious or you haven’t set foot on a high school campus in 2 decades.

Bethesda W schools?

No. You have a group of wealthy high achievers who would perform well anywhere due to parent involvement and resources for supplemental supports. The schools are still overcrowded, have major disciplinary concerns, and all the same admin issues at any other public.

Doesn’t that apply even more to the "top private schools "?
Then there are no good private schools around.

Look at the second sentence of PP's response. The Catholics are not overcrowded, they have far fewer disciplinary concerns and lots less red tape. Core academics and the caliber of students might be similar, but the wraparound environment is very different and impacts experiences tremendously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I attended a large local catholic co-ed. I knew of 1 non-catholic student, other than myself and some athletes. It's catholic. My first 5 minutes, everyone was in bleachers doing the sign of the cross, saying a prayer in unison, and I knew I was a fish out of water

Most DMV Catholic schools these days are 10-20% non-Catholic.

[Anonymous]

I am not Catholic, but feel forced to opt out of public schools. What we get in Catholic school:

Writing instruction. Phonics. Math. Spelling. Cursive. Not just buying into the current trends in education.

Less focus on the flavor of the month in terms of DEI. Btw I am for DEI and acceptance but the extent of it in public schools is too much, bringing up gender identity, transgender issues, completely normalizing divorce, and more even before these issues crop up normally. I don’t need teachers constantly pushing for these identity issues when kids haven’t even encountered them.

Dress code and phone rules. Appalled at what the girls are wearing even in 4th-5th, and all constantly on smart phones.

Some baseline of values that we can agree on and uphold. Right and wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Doesn’t that apply even more to the "top private schools "?
Then there are no good private schools around.

Obviously. You’re paying for a student cohort who have parents that prioritize education. You are paying for a school that isn’t busting at the seams. You are paying to not deal with the local public districts that are in shambles. The W schools would be good schools if it weren’t for the problems I previously listed. You avoid those problems by going private. I think you purposely tried to miss my point.

[Anonymous]

Your kid will generally turn out to be a better, more caring citizen from Catholic vs. Public OP. It is part of the mission.

[Anonymous]

I actually question the same thing. In this area the cohort that attend public and private is much the same, upper middle class parents who at least the majority are invested in their kids education.

[Anonymous]

I have a daughter at a Catholic and it has been a great fit for her. We are not Catholic, but I would say she finds learning about Catholicism in her theology class to be interesting and more like a subject area than being shoved down her throat.

Our local public is a hot mess. There was a great inflation scandal. There was a petition to remove the principal. It’s overall just not what I wanted for my kid.

I think if it cost the same to go to your local public as it did your local Catholic people would choose the Catholic school. The only reason people choose public is because it doesn’t cost them anything so it comes down to your priorities.

[Anonymous]

MUCH higher expectations and actual consequences for behavior in Catholic. Worth every penny.

- a public school teacher and a mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

My local public school sucks, and my son needs a safe and rigorous environment to succeed. He wants to see girls, so that put DeMatha and Gonzaga out of the running. I don’t have the cash for Bullis or Maret, so SJC was a nice sweet spot, and I got ample aid.

St John's is very similar to public. More strict. But similar in all other ways.

Wow I’m looking at it for my daughter are fights regular?

Um, no.

[Anonymous]

I got everything except for 8. Are they drive by shootings in the literal sense? Or am I missing something.

I’m wondering too

https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/i-tell-her-its-fireworks-how-dc-shootings-affected-564-of-566-schools/3784685/

https://wjla.com/news/local/dc-crime-gun-violence-shots-driveby-shooting-injuries-jackson-reed-high-in-northwest-dc-on-lockdown-police-activity-metropolitan-department-deal-middle-school-lafayette-elementary

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/3-dc-schools-on-lockdown-during-shots-fired-investigation-northwest

https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/washington-dc-schools-on-lockdown-as-191-bomb-threat-emails-spark-chaos-124011100213_1.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually question the same thing. In this area the cohort that attend public and private is much the same, upper middle class parents who at least the majority are invested in their kids education.

I live in an area like what you describe, and I wonder if most parents really know what the school day is like. I do, because I've volunteered a lot at my child's school, worked part time in a different elementary school in the same district. I have read the district curriculum guides.

Here's what I have seen: There are a small number of kids - maybe 2-3 in my kid's class of 17, not sure of other grades - that are a problem daily. Most of school is structured around getting these kids to comply by cajoling, pleading, setting up elaborate rewards systems, and giving junk incentives like toys, youtube videos, using the ipad apps, and Disney movie viewings. The whole class watches movies, Lego cooking videos, lines up to turn in tickets from the teacher's "store" every single week (all time taken out of instructional time). I'm moving my kid to an environment where kids are hopefully just expected to learn. Most children like to learn and they should be in an environment that promotes that. Catholic schools can do that, because they can still dole our reach consequences, including expulsion. Public school doesn't care about my kid's experience, since he is already above grade level and they need to deal with the 2-3 problem kids and hopefully reach the other 3-4 kids that are reading below grade level or can't do double digit addition.

There are also curriculum issues at our public, which again... even if you are well off and educated, you might not know about unless you are following along closely, have dug around to read the district websites and also been following educational news. The class is running behind in math (due to a "exploratory math curriculum") and in literacy (Calkins, no spelling or grammar). The teacher seems too frazzled or lazy to even assign math homework at this point. I thought by 2nd or 3rd grade, the kids would go beyond writing whatever and however they want (the thinking being that the teachers don't want to crush their big thoughts and inventive spelling), but no. Many parents seem to supplement outside of school with Beast Academy, Kumon, and after school enrichment academies, which are all fine, but at that point, what kind of time is left for family time, sports, music, exploring interests, and being a kid? We have the money to supplement, but I want the time back.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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?

The Catholic schools do not follow educational fads. They never adopted Lucy Calkins crap. They explicitly teach Phonics, spelling, grammar, and how to write a paragraph. They have worksheet for math practice. It is old school in a way that helps children learn the material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually question the same thing. In this area the cohort that attend public and private is much the same, upper middle class parents who at least the majority are invested in their kids education.

I live in an area like what you describe, and I wonder if most parents really know what the school day is like. I do, because I've volunteered a lot at my child's school, worked part time in a different elementary school in the same district. I have read the district curriculum guides.

Here's what I have seen: There are a small number of kids - maybe 2-3 in my kid's class of 17, not sure of other grades - that are a problem daily. Most of school is structured around getting these kids to comply by cajoling, pleading, setting up elaborate rewards systems, and giving junk incentives like toys, youtube videos, using the ipad apps, and Disney movie viewings. The whole class watches movies, Lego cooking videos, lines up to turn in tickets from the teacher's "store" every single week (all time taken out of instructional time). I'm moving my kid to an environment where kids are hopefully just expected to learn. Most children like to learn and they should be in an environment that promotes that. Catholic schools can do that, because they can still dole our reach consequences, including expulsion. Public school doesn't care about my kid's experience, since he is already above grade level and they need to deal with the 2-3 problem kids and hopefully reach the other 3-4 kids that are reading below grade level or can't do double digit addition.

There are also curriculum issues at our public, which again... even if you are well off and educated, you might not know about unless you are following along closely, have dug around to read the district websites and also been following educational news. The class is running behind in math (due to a "exploratory math curriculum") and in literacy (Calkins, no spelling or grammar). The teacher seems too frazzled or lazy to even assign math homework at this point. I thought by 2nd or 3rd grade, the kids would go beyond writing whatever and however they want (the thinking being that the teachers don't want to crush their big thoughts and inventive spelling), but no. Many parents seem to supplement outside of school with Beast Academy, Kumon, and after school enrichment academies, which are all fine, but at that point, what kind of time is left for family time, sports, music, exploring interests, and being a kid? We have the money to supplement, but I want the time back.

Most public schools don’t assign homework until HS and even then, they often let kids do it in class. How do you think all of these kids have so much time to do all of the after school activities? Little to no homework.