Anonymous wrote:Sticking ones head in the sand doesn't solve the problem. The comments about this community in DC is made again and again because they are true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But why would those of a different faith tradition who are skeptical bother attending a Catholic school? It’s not like the schools hide the religious aspect of the education and then spring it on unsuspecting new admits. It’s a Catholic school. If you want religion but not Catholic or no religion at all, there are other choices.

Cost and academics. That was my main reason for looking at them. I found a huge range in the Catholics from very welcoming to we will convert your child. Having the basics like textbooks and a real curriculum is always helpful. None hide it but they all had very different reactions to us being not Christian/Catholic. Sadly, there are not a lot of other choices in that price range. If there were a lot of us would gladly sign up. Its basically either Catholics or $40-50K schools.

So you are using the school because it’s convenient.

These are religious schools. They don’t have to be inclusive of anyone who wants to go there just because it’s close by or cheaper. Public schools exist just for those reasons.

Anonymous wrote:Op, seriously you just wrote that you want your kids to attend Catholic school because it’s close to your house?

It is a religion. The people that run those schools, participate in the parish life, give and fund the school in part, all the teachers, are there to raise and teach ALL the children the Catholic faith.

You’re okay with your child doing “prayer hands” every time they walk down the hall? Kneeling and praying and placing a flower at Mary’s statue on her day? Your child being “sprinkled” with holy water on some feast days as the priest chants a prayer? Lighting candles and placing them at the altar to honor all the children who have died in abortions? These are just examples off the top of my head from my kids school. K , 3 and 7.

It is not a public school where they go to a religion class like an art class and your ignorance of this is what is making us Catholics a little crazy here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Jewish and went to a Catholic school in Alexandria (Ascension Academy) many years ago. My best friends there were another Jewish kid, a Muslim from Pakistan, and several Catholics. The thing that mattered most was the quality of the education, which in this case was very good. Times have probably changed, but the only place where Catholicism strongly intruded into the curriculum was biology. And we were taught Latin, though with some subtle differences. For instance, "servus" was translated as "servant" whereas most places would translate it as "slave."

There was no attempt to convert us and the other kids generally were friendly, although many of them had never seen a Jew before. And, I'll admit, I'd never seen a Muslim before. I found Mass interesting, especially the ornateness and (remember, this was 55+ years ago) the incense and the mass in Latin . . . which it isn't anymore. I'd run into a lot more discrimination a few years earlier at a local public school where the kids were generally Baptist and had been taught that Jews killed Christ. Most had never seen a Jew before and were both curious and repelled. Had I been involved in killing Christ? Or my ancestors.

Focus on the quality of the education. If there wasn't much of a problem for a non-Catholic to go to a Catholic school 55+ years ago, there shouldn't be any problem today.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But why would those of a different faith tradition who are skeptical bother attending a Catholic school? It’s not like the schools hide the religious aspect of the education and then spring it on unsuspecting new admits. It’s a Catholic school. If you want religion but not Catholic or no religion at all, there are other choices.

I had the same question. We are a non Catholic family at a Catholic school and went in eyes wide open that our DC would have Catholic-focused religion classes and attend Mass.

This is OP. The main reason we are considering is because it is the closest school to our house! So most of the neighborhood kids go there. Our neighborhood public is a failing school. I met the religion teacher and actually liked his curriculum and I’m aware they will attend Mass. I’m ok with all of that but I wanted to ensure my kid wouldn’t be labeled an outsider if her family also didn’t attend Mass on the weekends.

OP, I'd largely ignore the posters that are ranting about non-Catholic kids attending their schools. They are the outliers. That said, I'd bring up the issue with the school and see what the reaction is. There are some pockets of DC and I am sure elsewhere in the area where it would be harder because the parents at the school went to the school themselves as did all their siblings and friends, but I think that's the exception, not the rule.

At my daughter's school, it was never really discussed and we certainly weren't excluding anyone b/c they weren't a Catholic family.

Anonymous wrote:Op, seriously you just wrote that you want your kids to attend Catholic school because it’s close to your house?

It is a religion. The people that run those schools, participate in the parish life, give and fund the school in part, all the teachers, are there to raise and teach ALL the children the Catholic faith.

You’re okay with your child doing “prayer hands” every time they walk down the hall? Kneeling and praying and placing a flower at Mary’s statue on her day? Your child being “sprinkled” with holy water on some feast days as the priest chants a prayer? Lighting candles and placing them at the altar to honor all the children who have died in abortions? These are just examples off the top of my head from my kids school. K , 3 and 7.

It is not a public school where they go to a religion class like an art class and your ignorance of this is what is making us Catholics a little crazy here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But why would those of a different faith tradition who are skeptical bother attending a Catholic school? It’s not like the schools hide the religious aspect of the education and then spring it on unsuspecting new admits. It’s a Catholic school. If you want religion but not Catholic or no religion at all, there are other choices.

I had the same question. We are a non Catholic family at a Catholic school and went in eyes wide open that our DC would have Catholic-focused religion classes and attend Mass.

This is OP. The main reason we are considering is because it is the closest school to our house! So most of the neighborhood kids go there. Our neighborhood public is a failing school. I met the religion teacher and actually liked his curriculum and I’m aware they will attend Mass. I’m ok with all of that but I wanted to ensure my kid wouldn’t be labeled an outsider if her family also didn’t attend Mass on the weekends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will probably be fine either way, but can you and your spouse handle associating with Catholic parents?

Unless they’re bigoted like you, I don’t see why not.

Let’s see.

They send their kids to a Catholic school because they want their religion and culture reinforced. They are expecting a more homogeneous environment.

You are sending your kids there in spite of it being a Catholic school and are hoping to skate by with as little of Catholic teachings rubbing off as possible. You are there because you don’t like the public school and you don’t want to spend the money for or can’t afford a secular private school alternative.

What could possibly go wrong???

The Catholic parents you meet aren’t stupid. They know why you are there. They also understand that if the school has open slots that they need to fill them and that you are almost certainly paying list non-Catholic, non-paishoner price. So that makes it a little more palatable.

No one is going to be impolite (usually). But they are not dumb. They know what is going on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But why would those of a different faith tradition who are skeptical bother attending a Catholic school? It’s not like the schools hide the religious aspect of the education and then spring it on unsuspecting new admits. It’s a Catholic school. If you want religion but not Catholic or no religion at all, there are other choices.

Cost and academics. That was my main reason for looking at them. I found a huge range in the Catholics from very welcoming to we will convert your child. Having the basics like textbooks and a real curriculum is always helpful. None hide it but they all had very different reactions to us being not Christian/Catholic. Sadly, there are not a lot of other choices in that price range. If there were a lot of us would gladly sign up. Its basically either Catholics or $40-50K schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But why would those of a different faith tradition who are skeptical bother attending a Catholic school? It’s not like the schools hide the religious aspect of the education and then spring it on unsuspecting new admits. It’s a Catholic school. If you want religion but not Catholic or no religion at all, there are other choices.

Cost and academics. That was my main reason for looking at them. I found a huge range in the Catholics from very welcoming to we will convert your child. Having the basics like textbooks and a real curriculum is always helpful. None hide it but they all had very different reactions to us being not Christian/Catholic. Sadly, there are not a lot of other choices in that price range. If there were a lot of us would gladly sign up. Its basically either Catholics or $40-50K schools.

Just as was posted above.

Non-Catholics are interested in Catholic schools because they don’t want to send them to public schools with all their problems and they cannot afford or don’t want to spend the money a secular private would cost.

They see them as sort of a discount private school.

That is NOT the primary reason why Catholics send their children to Catholic schools. It’s a family tradition, they want to see their faith reinforced and they want to continue to build the community that surrounds the parish. They hope to prepare their children to attend a Catholic high school.

In the more affluent areas, the schools are predominantly Catholic. A few non-Catholic families aren’t going to upset anyone, just as long as the school stays away from some sort of “tipping point” that would cause the parishioners to complain.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But why would those of a different faith tradition who are skeptical bother attending a Catholic school? It’s not like the schools hide the religious aspect of the education and then spring it on unsuspecting new admits. It’s a Catholic school. If you want religion but not Catholic or no religion at all, there are other choices.

Cost and academics. That was my main reason for looking at them. I found a huge range in the Catholics from very welcoming to we will convert your child. Having the basics like textbooks and a real curriculum is always helpful. None hide it but they all had very different reactions to us being not Christian/Catholic. Sadly, there are not a lot of other choices in that price range. If there were a lot of us would gladly sign up. Its basically either Catholics or $40-50K schools.