Catholic School

In contrast to Kristy's experience, I was raised in a formal religion (Baptist, fundamentalist) and went to a Christian school as well as a church where my grandmother was a deaconness and Sunday School teacher. I was only too happy to move on with my own not-very-religious life! Having it forced upon me so early really made it hard for me to have any appreciation for it. I really don't think you can predict what your children will be like, spiritually. There's something to raising your kids in a loving community, which a lot of people get through their church, but I think it's something you can build in many ways.

Having said that - I'm married to a Catholic and we're half-heartedly raising the kids Catholic (they were baptized, we go to church for the major holidays) and as a non-Catholic I do feel like I'm standing on the outside and excluded a bit. When it comes to church and social activities, I mean - we don't attend the school.

I think it would be worth taking the time to get to know the school and its community and find out how welcome you will feel, because I think it's important to feel a part of your childrens' school. Raised Catholic yourself, it may be pretty easy for you, but in any case I think meeting some parents first is really key in any private school choice.

Please see similar discussion (under Requests & /Education & Academics/K-8) to Emperatriz, dated 6/18/07.

I strongly recommend Catholic schools, although I'm sure they vary in quality. Just check them out (go for a tour, talk to parents, see what you can find on-line, ask Mamasource moms, etc.) to find the best.

We're doing Catholic schools even though we live in a terrific public school district because I can't replace the type of environment they'll have and the religious experience (I'm a renewed fan of being Catholic too, by the way. There's a great book by David B. Currie that is called "Born Again Catholic".)

Good luck. G.

Check the school and the staff out alot. Catholic school "teachers" are not required to be certified teachers. Many don't even have a teaching degree. If you don't want to go CPS, you may want to look into other private schools. The catholic school test scores are significantly lower than public schools! Good luck.

I don't have much to add regarding Catholic School but I wanted to share with you my experience coming from a family that gave me no formal training on religion. I admire your goal to let your child grow into his religion, whichever religion that may be, but I would like to caution you. I grew up in a family that had no real religious affiliation. It was a loving family that made sure I knew about God and where people go when they die (heaven) but that was the extent of it. Now I am 31 and just completed formal RCIA classes and was baptised, confirmed and received my first communion this past Easter. Looking back I truly wished my parents had been part of a church and had made an effort in giving me some formal religious education. For many years I struggled with my spirituality and found that the responsibility to make my own choice on religion was extremely daunting. I didn't know where to begin. I questioned which was the "right" religion and finding time now as a mother, full time employee and wife to explore, choose and train myself in that chosen religion was a big job. I'm blessed because my husband is Catholic (though not practicing) and I had a very good Catholic friend who helped me along. Had it not been for her I don't know that I ever would have completed this step in my life. I definitely think God was watching and sending his angels my way to help me on my journey. I'm not saying that what you've chosen to do is wrong, it may work out very well for your children when they're older but I found it to be very difficult even to this day. It's all very foreign to me. I don't understand the Mass half the time, I don't really understand many of the bible verses, I don't know how to pray and I just feel like I'm playing catch up on something that should have been my parent's responsibility to teach me. I may have chosen another religion when I was older but at least I would have had some kind of background and wouldn't have felt like I had to start from scratch in my 30's. Now that I have children, we make sure we attend weekly mass, say prayers before meal and bedtime and read bible stories. If they decide later that Catholicism isn't for them then that's fine but at least I've done my job as a parent and gave them a very good start on their spiritual journey. We often worry so much about what food were putting in our kids to physically sustain them and what schools they attend to mentally sustain them but we often forget that we need to make sure we find proper nourishment for their soul and spirituality as well. I hope you don't feel I'm preaching, truly not my intent, I just wanted to put that viewpoint out there for you to consider. Good luck deciding what to do about their education, I'm sure whatever you decide will be right for your family.

I used to work at a residential facility on the southside and the chlldren (adolescent girls!) were sent to private schools, mostly Catholic. Their main complaint about it was having to wear a uniform! I think that the religious component was much stronger at the elementary level than the high school level. And, even that is different now that there are so many lay teachers in the Catholic schools. I don't know how old your child is, but when you look at high schools, St. Ignatious which is on Roosevelt, has a fairly diverse student body. It is also probably twice as expensive as a typical Catholic high school, but it is an excellent high school. Children come in from all over Chicagoland to attend there.