any Catholic schoolers out there?

[mamaape]

We have our daughter in Catholic preK, planning to do Catholic school for the whole preK thru 12. My husband loved Cath HS, we both went to Jesuit (order of priests, for those who don't know) colleges and felt it gave us a great basis for a values-centered life. We are progressive and practicing Catholics (both from birth), with our major beefs against the Church being with the sexual teachings and role of women in the Church (not to mention the horrid abuse scandals). Just wondering if anyone else--like us or not--is sending kids to Catholic school and how it's going. We feel our daughter is thriving.

[elmh23]

We will be in about four years. We will homeschool for K because our state is mandatory full day for K which neither dh or I like, but after that they will be at our parish school until 8th grade. Unfortunatly the local Catholic high school is not one I'd send my children to, so our kids will be put in public schools at that point.

My husband is a cradle Catholic (who attended the school our children will attend ) and I am a new convert (baptized at Easter of this year!)

[MillingNome]

My dd has done all of k-8. She will be doing a catholic h.s. too. She is more than prepared for highschool with a good solid head on her shoulders even though it was not a "state of the art" education.

Both dh and I went through the catholic school system.

We are strong believers in it

[raksmama]

DS(9) is in a Public Catholic school after pre K and KG in Waldorf and 1st grade in Montessori.
Our Catholic school is by far the best school and our son without doubt likes it the best too.

[Lingmom]

My daughter is in Catholic school and I'm very happy with it. We're not Catholic -- I'm Episcopalian and my partner is non-practicing Catholic. And we both went to public schools. If our public school was not such a poverty-stricken, underperforming sort of place, we'd send her there. We were concerned most about the politics and social conservatism and whether the school would take issue with us as a gay family. It has not been the case.

It's an old-fashioned school and not very big (about 200 kids k-8). I like that everybody knows my daughter and likes her and she's surrounded by a community of people who are looking out for her. She's really thriving there.

A few things (like the kitchy Catholic art and the talk of angels and heaven in a literal way) I'm less comfortable with, but it's less of a big deal than I thought. Also, as Episcopalians, we come from a tradition of women priests and gay priests and "all are welcome at the Lord's table" kind of eucharist. So I'm just hoping that she does not feel rejected when not allowed to take communion.

[mamaape]

Regarding communion/Eucharist: I used to teach at a Catholic HS in CA, and the non-Catholic girls--whatever their beliefs--(it was all-girls) who chose to do so could respectfully cross their arms over their chests and get a blessing from the Eucharistic Minister during communion. It's also common for kids who haven't received first Eucharist to do this (under age 8), although my dd curtseys and bows her head for her blessing (she's 4) at Mass when we go as a family. The ministers smile and bless her! You may want to ask about this at your school. Although non-Catholics are not to receive communion in a Catholic Mass, there is no reason, I think, especially in a school setting, for them to somehow be excluded from other parts of the ritual if you and your child wish to respectfully participate.

[CaraboosMama]

Originally Posted by mamaape

Regarding communion/Eucharist: I used to teach at a Catholic HS in CA, and the non-Catholic girls--whatever their beliefs--(it was all-girls) who chose to do so could respectfully cross their arms over their chests and get a blessing from the Eucharistic Minister during communion. It's also common for kids who haven't received first Eucharist to do this (under age 8), although my dd curtseys and bows her head for her blessing (she's 4) at Mass when we go as a family. The ministers smile and bless her! You may want to ask about this at your school. Although non-Catholics are not to receive communion in a Catholic Mass, there is no reason, I think, especially in a school setting, for them to somehow be excluded from other parts of the ritual if you and your child wish to respectfully participate.

This is true at most masses - particularly at funerals - non-Catholics who would like to recieve a blessing can cross their arms over their chest.

We are still deciding whether or not we will do Catholic school for our kids (oldest dd is 3 1/2) but my experience attending Catholic school was that there was a greater focus on justice, caring for the poor and similar ethics rather than "people who do xyz are going to hell."

[AnalogWife]

I'm a product of parochial schooling, I feel that I thrived at Catholic school and it all went downhill once I switched to public school my Jr year of HS (not dissing public school, it's just not for me.) My DH attended public school, he also didn't thrive there so when we bought a house I bought one that had a Catholic school in walking distance. This summer it CLOSED, : or, it consolidated with another Catholic school that is further away from us. Neither of us are interested in sending our son to public school so if there's no Catholic school handy, DH wants to homeschool him. Since he's only 5.5 months old, we have plenty of time to think about it.

My DH is spiritual but not religious. I'm a cradle Catholic and want to raise my son in the church (my DH is fine with that) but it's getting harder and harder. I used to attend the 6pm Sunday Mass near my house (we're not early risers) but they cancelled it, and I work until 5pm on Saturday, so no 4:30 pm option. With one car it's hard to drive to the other Sunday pm Masses since my DH has been working Sundays. Sigh. We did have him baptized, it was wonderful.

[moms222]

Me, me, me

We are loving our Catholic school experience! I only wish I found this school before this year. My son is absolutely thriving. In fact, our children's minister visited his school, and hasn't stopped talking about the wonderful experience yet!

moms222

[griffin2004]

DD will start kindergarten in Fall 2008, so we'll start our admission process to a local Catholic K-8 after the first of the year. It's a small, independent Cath school that is closely affiliated with our parish. She's going to pre-K Sunday school now (or "Jesus school" as she calls it!). In addition to the value-based education, this school starts Spanish and computers in kindergarten which I love.

A Catholic high school is being built here, thanks be to God.

[HoneymoonBaby]

Originally Posted by CaraboosMama

This is true at most masses - particularly at funerals - non-Catholics who would like to recieve a blessing can cross their arms over their chest.

If you want to do this, please attend with her once, sit a little further back, and make sure this is done in your parish. It's not in the GIRM (rulebook for Mass), so some Priests won't do it and it can be confusing at or embarrassing/awkward or worse to go up there expecting just a blessing when the Priest is expecting to give you communion. It is common practice at many parishes, but not all of them. Just FYI.

[MillingNome]

The school my dd goes to has about 12% of the kids who are not catholic. Her high school, assuming she get in, will have about the same percentage. The grade school is teeny tiny and it's not a big deal if a kid does not go up. I don't imagine it being an issue for her high school since there are only a couple all school masses for the whole year that are easily opt out of. If it is a concern, ask AND go there to see how it is handled.