Catholic school when you are not super Catholic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m Catholic and we send out kids to an Episcopal school now (we were waitlisted at our first choice Catholic K-8); however one kid is going to Catholic high school in the Fall and the younger sibling will also.

I am offended when people go to Catholic school to escape public and treat the religious part of going to a Catholic school as an inconvenient by product. It is actually “the thing” and not a byproduct. Your dismissiveness of Catholic teachings and traditions in pursuit of any alternative to public is insulting.

Do you think the Episcopalians are offended you used their school as a convenient fall-back?

The religions are very close to identical, so PP is not dismissive of the religious aspects of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be really interesting if people named their schools. I think how religious the people are could vary greatly by school/parish.

Happy to oblige! I have one child at Holy Spirit (Diocese of Arlington K - 8) and another at Bishop O'Connell. I can't rely opine on how devout families are at O'Connell because you just don't have that same level of familial interaction that you do in elementary school. I will say faith is a part of every class, every day - which is what we would expect to happen at a Catholic school.

Holy Spirit really runs the gamut of very devout to don't attend mass at all. I will say the school itself has an incredibly strong sense of community and that's what I like best. Definitely an old-school educational environment (which I love) but I would say 'Catholic lite' in the sense that Catholicism is woven into every part of every day in a subtle way - it's not shoved down your throat, but it IS ever-present (again, what we would expect at a Catholic school). Confession is monthly, mass is every Friday (unless there is a day of obligation, in which case they go to mass on that day). Prayers at the beginning and end of every class, beginning and end of lunch, and there are many observances/celebrations of events on the liturgical calendar.

We have been at Holy Spirit for more than ten years and are very happy there. It's not perfect - nothing is - but they have done a great job educating my children in all senses of the word.

[Anonymous]

We are not Catholic, but our daughter is at a Catholic high school. It’s really her first exposure to any religion. She has an open mind and simply sees it as something more for her to learn about. The kids are all pretty typical high schools. She hasn’t talked about any in your face Catholic pressures. Overall she enjoys the school. If she doesn’t believe in something she just sits quite and stays respectful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m Catholic and we send out kids to an Episcopal school now (we were waitlisted at our first choice Catholic K-8); however one kid is going to Catholic high school in the Fall and the younger sibling will also.

I am offended when people go to Catholic school to escape public and treat the religious part of going to a Catholic school as an inconvenient by product. It is actually “the thing” and not a byproduct. Your dismissiveness of Catholic teachings and traditions in pursuit of any alternative to public is insulting.

Do you think the Episcopalians are offended you used their school as a convenient fall-back?

The religions are very close to identical, so PP is not dismissive of the religious aspects of the school.

They are in no wise “very close to identical.” Many Episcopalians belong to the same “church” but have widely varying and conflicting beliefs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Does anyone have experience with Catholic school when you are not a devout Catholic? DH and I were both raised Catholic and had all the sacraments but are not active in our church. We are toying with the idea of sending our kids to the local parochial school because they have had an iffy experience with behavior issues and big classes in our FCPS elementary. But I am wondering what that experience will be like for them and for our family. My gut tells me that I would not love that experience for them. We don't have the money for some of the other privates around us.

Catholic schools also have disciplinary problems so don't kid yourself. They used to be able to discipline but, no longer. I don't have a solution but, if not really Catholic i wouldn't waste the money.

[Anonymous]

NP here - I have not read any of prior replies.

I have several thoughts:

1) If you go into any school with hesitation on whether you are going to like it, you are setting yourself up for potential failure. ANY school you join will require you to be flexible and settle in as you learn the ropes. NO school is perfect - so if you are starting with hesitancy, it's harder to be genuinely flexible without always doubting why you are there in the first place.

2) I do not have experience with Catholic schools (although we did tour some in our school search) but I do know that not all private schools are the same and not all Catholic schools are the same.

3) I recommend that you make a concerted effort to tour a large number of schools and see how they feel to you. If they all leave you with the same nagging concern that you currently have, I'd say "don't do it". But you might find that there are a few you feel will gel with what you think would work for your family and your kids.

Good luck.

2)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Does anyone have experience with Catholic school when you are not a devout Catholic? DH and I were both raised Catholic and had all the sacraments but are not active in our church. We are toying with the idea of sending our kids to the local parochial school because they have had an iffy experience with behavior issues and big classes in our FCPS elementary. But I am wondering what that experience will be like for them and for our family. My gut tells me that I would not love that experience for them. We don't have the money for some of the other privates around us.

Catholic schools also have disciplinary problems so don't kid yourself. They used to be able to discipline but, no longer. I don't have a solution but, if not really Catholic i wouldn't waste the money.

Oh really? Our school has very strict rules that are enforced. Students have been counseled out for any sort of behavioral problem in the past, and I know of some serious consequences middle schoolers have had for bullying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People- STOP considering Catholic unless you are open to your children embracing the faith. It’s a bad fit for everyone if you are already feeling it won’t align with your values. If you are open to reviving your faith, then go for it!

What? if Catholic schools only enrolled students who fully embraced the faith, they would fail. You want them to stay open for your kid don't you? They openly welcome people of other faiths or even non-faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m Catholic and we send out kids to an Episcopal school now (we were waitlisted at our first choice Catholic K-8); however one kid is going to Catholic high school in the Fall and the younger sibling will also.

I am offended when people go to Catholic school to escape public and treat the religious part of going to a Catholic school as an inconvenient by product. It is actually “the thing” and not a byproduct. Your dismissiveness of Catholic teachings and traditions in pursuit of any alternative to public is insulting.

Do you think the Episcopalians are offended you used their school as a convenient fall-back?

The religions are very close to identical, so PP is not dismissive of the religious aspects of the school.

They are in no wise “very close to identical.” Many Episcopalians belong to the same “church” but have widely varying and conflicting beliefs.

https://uscatholic.org/articles/202405/glad-you-asked-whats-the-difference-between-episcopalians-and-catholics/
https://stthomasdc.org/2018/09/05/episcopalians-and-roman-catholics/
https://www.episcopalchurch.org/eir/what-is-the-difference-between-the-episcopal-church-and-the-roman-catholic-church/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m Catholic and we send out kids to an Episcopal school now (we were waitlisted at our first choice Catholic K-8); however one kid is going to Catholic high school in the Fall and the younger sibling will also.

I am offended when people go to Catholic school to escape public and treat the religious part of going to a Catholic school as an inconvenient by product. It is actually “the thing” and not a byproduct. Your dismissiveness of Catholic teachings and traditions in pursuit of any alternative to public is insulting.

Do you think the Episcopalians are offended you used their school as a convenient fall-back?

The religions are very close to identical, so PP is not dismissive of the religious aspects of the school.

They are in no wise “very close to identical.” Many Episcopalians belong to the same “church” but have widely varying and conflicting beliefs.

Same could be said of Catholics. Wide range of views on the positions of the Church with regard to hotbutton issues like birth control, LGBT, and so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Does anyone have experience with Catholic school when you are not a devout Catholic? DH and I were both raised Catholic and had all the sacraments but are not active in our church. We are toying with the idea of sending our kids to the local parochial school because they have had an iffy experience with behavior issues and big classes in our FCPS elementary. But I am wondering what that experience will be like for them and for our family. My gut tells me that I would not love that experience for them. We don't have the money for some of the other privates around us.

Catholic schools also have disciplinary problems so don't kid yourself. They used to be able to discipline but, no longer. I don't have a solution but, if not really Catholic i wouldn't waste the money.

That makes no sense. Why do you think they can no longer discipline?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m Catholic and we send out kids to an Episcopal school now (we were waitlisted at our first choice Catholic K-8); however one kid is going to Catholic high school in the Fall and the younger sibling will also.

I am offended when people go to Catholic school to escape public and treat the religious part of going to a Catholic school as an inconvenient by product. It is actually “the thing” and not a byproduct. Your dismissiveness of Catholic teachings and traditions in pursuit of any alternative to public is insulting.

Do you think the Episcopalians are offended you used their school as a convenient fall-back?

To be fair, Episcopal schools (at least in my experience) are very non dogmatic. The one we considered for our kids did not seem to care at all what faith traditions the students and families came from. I think Catholic schools are much more religiously oriented than (at least many) Episcopal ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m Catholic and we send out kids to an Episcopal school now (we were waitlisted at our first choice Catholic K-8); however one kid is going to Catholic high school in the Fall and the younger sibling will also.

I am offended when people go to Catholic school to escape public and treat the religious part of going to a Catholic school as an inconvenient by product. It is actually “the thing” and not a byproduct. Your dismissiveness of Catholic teachings and traditions in pursuit of any alternative to public is insulting.

Do you think the Episcopalians are offended you used their school as a convenient fall-back?

To be fair, Episcopal schools (at least in my experience) are very non dogmatic. The one we considered for our kids did not seem to care at all what faith traditions the students and families came from. I think Catholic schools are much more religiously oriented than (at least many) Episcopal ones.

They do just enough to get the tax status. Like the Quakers.

[Anonymous]

Catholic schools also have disciplinary problems so don't kid yourself. They used to be able to discipline but, no longer. I don't have a solution but, if not really Catholic i wouldn't waste the money.


That makes no sense. Why do you think they can no longer discipline?

They don’t discipline as much. Parents complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Catholic schools also have disciplinary problems so don't kid yourself. They used to be able to discipline but, no longer. I don't have a solution but, if not really Catholic i wouldn't waste the money.


That makes no sense. Why do you think they can no longer discipline?

They don’t discipline as much. Parents complain.

Parents everywhere complain about everything. You still aren’t making sense.