Anonymous wrote:I put my kids INTO Catholic school because as compliant learners, they were getting little attention in classrooms full of students needing constant care to stay on task. They complained about the constant waiting for others to settle down and finish work. The squeaky wheel gets the grease I guess - but when you don't have squeaky wheels, they get nothing.

I think if you child is very obedient and academic, then he/she'll be very successful in Catholic school.

I put my kids INTO Catholic school because as compliant learners, they were getting little attention in classrooms full of students needing constant care to stay on task. They complained about the constant waiting for others to settle down and finish work. The squeaky wheel gets the grease I guess - but when you don't have squeaky wheels, they get nothing.

Anonymous wrote:parochial tuition a little too steep, op?

No, it's pretty cheap actually compared to other private schools. We are members of the parish, so it is even cheaper and on top of that siblings get a discount. There are a couple of private schools in our area that are not Catholic, but they are really $$$, over twice as much. We can't afford those and still save enough money for the kid's college, so our option now is to put our kids in public. The public schools are supposed to be really good, so we are lucky in that sense.

parochial tuition a little too steep, op?

Hello, I'm the OP. I just read all the responses. I'm not even surprised some people don't believe me because I had a hard time believing what this teacher was doing. I don't know what upset me more, the teacher's discipline tactics or the lack of concern/action from the principal. Regardless, I know I can't have my children seeing an adult, much less a teacher, treating their classmates this way. These are such formative years, how is the little boy going to trust another teacher? It just breaks my heart.

The teachers at our local catholic school aren't strict at all. If anything the public school is more strict because of the larger classes. Teachers are yelling at kids all the time in public. The kids do have quite a bit of homework but I think get more individual attention during the day and have nice textbooks whereas the public school has no textbooks. I think a lot of people don't send their children there because they aren't extremely religious and the public schools are pretty good. Also the school has a different schedule from public so it's hard for working parents to deal with school closings when no camps are available. I have no idea why they don't fix this to match as much as possible with public school. Also, the teachers aren't as qualified and there is no gifted program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Protestant. However, I find it hard to believe this.

I am a Jew (and a teacher,) and I find it hard to believe, too...

This is probably the same Catholic person pretending to be others to defend their precious schools. It is well known that Catholic school teachers use shame and are unyielding in discipline. I went to Catholic school all my life and did great, I was super well behaved and got very good grades. But I wasn't blind, I know how a lot of the teachers treated the kids that struggled to conform. My eighth grade teacher was famous for throwing pencils at the misbehaving kids. Parents laughed about it. It was terrible and I was always anxious not to make teachers mad. I would never, ever do this to my girls. They are in private schools, but non denominational. And if I couldn't afford private, they would be in public.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read the thread about being over homework and thought, "Yep. This is why mine go to Catholic school." No hw in K. No more than 10 mins per grade until MS. Even in MS, HW gets done before pick up from after care. All questions about HW go to the teacher(s). Studying for tests and special projects are all very manageable.

Yes the behavioral standards are higher. Thankfully.

See, this is interesting. We are in a NW DC Catholic school and it's clear that my kids have far and away more homework than their peers in public school (a 'JKLM' school). It goes to show you that it's all just so dependent on the individual school in question.

Same here. I decided to take my kids off Catholic school because of the unyielding one way to learn for all kids and the sheer insane amount of homework. Math, vocab, reading and writing every single day. Between sports and homework my kids were the only ones on our street that could never play outside. My kids are now in public and for the most part do their homework on the bus on the way home!!!

Anonymous wrote:Just read the thread about being over homework and thought, "Yep. This is why mine go to Catholic school." No hw in K. No more than 10 mins per grade until MS. Even in MS, HW gets done before pick up from after care. All questions about HW go to the teacher(s). Studying for tests and special projects are all very manageable.

Yes the behavioral standards are higher. Thankfully.

See, this is interesting. We are in a NW DC Catholic school and it's clear that my kids have far and away more homework than their peers in public school (a 'JKLM' school). It goes to show you that it's all just so dependent on the individual school in question.

I'm catholic, we chose not to send our kids to catholic school because we live in Ffx County and why pay for school when you live in one of the best school districts in the country, but I digress.

My brother and SIL send my nephews to catholic school. Both are boys, they have had nothing but trouble. Most recently my SIL was told that my younger nephew has ADD and that she needs to put him on meds. His current teacher makes him sit in the back of the class; because he has a hard time sitting still and disrupts the class. For an 9 year old, I find this hard, because he complains that he doesn't have any friends, because he's always getting in trouble with the teacher. His older brother was the same way, at the same school. He said he would spend days out in the hallway because the teacher told him he had ADD and it wasn't her fault his mother failed to medicate him. I can't believe my SIL and brother are still sending my nephews to this crazy school. My SIL says she's finally had enough and is trying to get the younger on in a different school. The older one is now in HS.

Just read the thread about being over homework and thought, "Yep. This is why mine go to Catholic school." No hw in K. No more than 10 mins per grade until MS. Even in MS, HW gets done before pick up from after care. All questions about HW go to the teacher(s). Studying for tests and special projects are all very manageable.

Yes the behavioral standards are higher. Thankfully.

My husband and I are Catholic, I defend all things Catholic...but hell NO would I send my kid to Catholic school.

My mother and I both are terrified of nuns (which my husband finds funny) but 12 years of Catholic school will do that.

Anonymous wrote:It's always good to make the best decision for your family. I've had kids at public and Catholic. I can say from experience that your experiences are teacher- or school-specific. I haven't seen anything that bad at either Catholic or public, but the chances of something similar happening again are equal be it at a different Catholic school or a public school. Good luck next year.

+1

My son goes to a great Catholic school in Alexandria. There are children in his class that have lost their recess, but never the entire class, as his teacher is fair, stern but loving. I personally prefer more discipline in the classroom and school. Your child's teacher does sound a like a wench, though!

I'm Jewish, and the bathroom thing happened in my public schools in NY. My mother wrote a note saying due to a history of UTIs (I had them a lot from 3-5 yrs old) to please allow me to use the bathroom whenever I asked. They didn't, so she had my ped write the exact same note. I believe that forced them to comply.