Catholic School or Public School?

[kdibattista]

DH and I have been discussing education recently and I'm leaning towards Catholic School when the time comes (if it's still an option with the way schools have been dropping around here ) but DH would prefer public school. I was just curious what others have chosen or will choose and why if money was not an issue.

ETA: I think I phrased this so it won't turn into a debate

 

[doxdogy]

I chose Catholic due to the fact that I attended Catholic school for 12 years. I received a good education. When I was attending Catholic school the Public schools here were not accredited. I did attend Public school for two weeks (my dad was transfrerred) and hated it.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

Our Public school system is so bad that sending your kid to it is a form of Child Neglect.

Well maybe not that bad but bad enough. She is a 3rd Gen at the school she is at now Catholic and will be starting Catholic HS next year.

When I was taken out of 8th grade and put in a Public school i was teaching the math teacher how to do work I did 2 years prior.

Now I'm no way saying that most or even some teachers are that bad but they just have no resourses with the coruption going on with the public system. Kids still bringing weapons to school on a daily basis.

If we lived in some parts of the Suburbs a bit north I would have no problem sending her there to public school and feeling safe in doing so.

 

[shovan]

Public schools are in such dire circumstances here that it's not a very good option.

 

[fabshelly]

If you're devout Catholic, Catholic school. If not, then, based upon value of education for the cost, consider a private school. However, if it's a decent public school, and they have programs like AVID and GATE, and you are willing to be involved with your child's educational journey, keep in constant communication with teachers and school officials, and promote learning for your child, he or she will flourish in any school.

 

[EltonJohn]

When me and my fiancee eventually have children then we will probably send them to public school. Though I would prefer a small private school. Under no circumstances will I ever send my child to a Roman Catholic school.

 

[Daxx]

I voted Catholic school. Not b/c I am a teacher at a Catholic school, either. DS goes to a Catholic school. Our local public schools are good but not at the standards I want them to be at. I look at my nieces who attend the local school system and see that their education is not as up-to-par as DS's education has been. The Catholic school DS attends meet and exceed the standards I want for my child's education. That's why he goes there.

This is a personal choice. I've heard good things about our local schools and I've heard bad things. One thing that turned me off of our local public schools was the fact that one niece was in 9th grade before they discovered she had the reading comp. level of a 3rd grader. I just don't understand how she went through 6 yrs. of school before someone figured this out!??!

ETA -- The teachers and principals at my school and DS's are all lay people. We don't have any nuns teaching.

 

[my4kids]

Our Public school system is so bad that sending your kid to it is a form of Child Neglect.

Well maybe not that bad but bad enough. She is a 3rd Gen at the school she is at now Catholic and will be starting Catholic HS next year.

When I was taken out of 8th grade and put in a Public school i was teaching the math teacher how to do work I did 2 years prior.

Now I'm no way saying that most or even some teachers are that bad but they just have no resourses with the coruption going on with the public system. Kids still bringing weapons to school on a daily basis.

If we lived in some parts of the Suburbs a bit north I would have no problem sending her there to public school and feeling safe in doing so.

I see you're from B-more, and if you are talking about the city school system, then I whole-heartedly agree. (and it is frightening that the mayor of the place is going to now be the gov. of the state)

I am in the burbs, so we send ours to public....and the education they are getting is way better than the kids at the catholic schools around here. There are way more resources for kids who need extra help, and way more resources for kids who are gifted....the Catholic elementary schools only have 1 reading level...my son would be bored silly reading at the same pace as all 60 1 st graders. They are ok for a mediocre kid...but if you are gifted, or below average, God help you. I look at that and then think, why would someone want to spend money to send their kid to a school with a lesser education? and the answer is that they are conceited. They think they and their kids are "too good" for a public school where just anyone can go. So they pay money and sometimes the mom has to take a job, just to afford to send their kids to a school with bratty spoiled kids.

Every one of these parents when asked why they pay for less than what they get at public, would tell you that they value the Catholic education, but my kids use the EXACT same books as the religion classes at the Catholic schools do at their Sunday school classes at the church. The Catholic school doesn't have a gym and gym class , a playground, a sports field, an art teacher, a cafeteria, a speech pathologist, an occupational therepist, and on and on and on. It just doesn't make sense to me, it like they are all drinking kool-aid together and convincing themselves that if it costs more it must be better.

 

[kdibattista]

I see you're from B-more, and if you are talking about the city school system, then I whole-heartedly agree. (and it is frightening that the mayor of the place is going to now be the gov. of the state)

I am in the burbs, so we send ours to public....and the education they are getting is way better than the kids at the catholic schools around here. There are way more resources for kids who need extra help, and way more resources for kids who are gifted....the Catholic elementary schools only have 1 reading level...my son would be bored silly reading at the same pace as all 60 1 st graders. They are ok for a mediocre kid...but if you are gifted, or below average, God help you. I look at that and then think, why would someone want to spend money to send their kid to a school with a lesser education? and the answer is that they are conceited. They think they and their kids are "too good" for a public school where just anyone can go. So they pay money and sometimes the mom has to take a job, just to afford to send their kids to a school with bratty spoiled kids.

Every one of these parents when asked why they pay for less than what they get at public, would tell you that they value the Catholic education, but my kids use the EXACT same books as the religion classes at the Catholic schools do at their Sunday school classes at the church. The Catholic school doesn't have a gym and gym class , a playground, a sports field, an art teacher, a cafeteria, a speech pathologist, an occupational therepist, and on and on and on. It just doesn't make sense to me, it like they are all drinking kool-aid together and convincing themselves that if it costs more it must be better.

Well, I had hoped not to turn this into a debate

 

[my4kids]

Well, I had hoped not to turn this into a debate

Granted, this argument onlY applies to my neigborhood. I could drive 20 minutes in any direction and Catholic school might be the better option....I have nothing against Catholic education, just in my neighorhood, it is a waste of money - and there are a lot of conceited people in my neighborhood.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm a parochial school graduate and thought about sending my kids to one as well, but the only one where I live was 40 minutes away and very expensive ($4K per child per year, plus $800/yr for the bus - times two; and that was 6 or 7 years ago, prices have since increased). The schools in my town are good so we sent them there and have been very pleased, so I voted for public. (If I lived somewhere that the public schools weren't good, I'm sure I'd feel differently.)

 

[LBAK]

My school district is great so I went with public schools and I'm very happy.

 

[Philadisney]

it definitely depends on your area. my parents were both public school teachers and my mother has worked avidly with the national education association for decades. she would rather have had her eyeballs poked with a kitchen knife than send me to catholic school (she went to one herself and has never gotten over it!).
i hated my public high school because the community (suburbs!) we lived in was very small and the kids were very close minded. the arts programs were wretchingly underfunded. so for my last three years of high school, my parents paid a small fee to send me to the public school of the city we lived outside of. it was FANTASTIC - i loved it and would not have traded that experience for the world.
so if you are lucky enough to live somewhere where there is a decent public school, that would be my recommendation to you - there can be some great opportunities there. of course since they are funded by local taxes, they are all different, based on how generously the community votes

 

[JVL1018]

I picked public-we have good schools, and actually I know for a fact that our town Catholic school(K-8)-when the kids transfer into the public school, most of them have to go right into Basic Skills to catch up.

Plus I like the feeling of town unity, town pride, of knowing so many people in your town, that sense of community you get from going through the school system.

I have heard, not sure if it is true, that NJ public schools require more of their teachers, re: state teaching certifications and continuing education credits etc.

Our public school class size is max of 23.
I have a friend whose daughter has 35 kids in her class! No thanks.


I wouldn't send my kids to any private school, Catholic or otherwise,unless our public schools were bad or I felt they weren't safe.
NOtT because I think they're bad, I just don't see a reason for them if you live in a good school district. Maybe if I was Catholic, and wanted that religious foundation I would feel differently.
But DH and I are both products of public school and had great experiences, so it's probably more that than anything else.

 

[belle_of_the_ball]

my parents let me have the choice 2 years ago when we were picking my high school. It was Catholic or Public. Ive spent my entire life in public schools, its not my favorite place but i like it. My mom spent her entire life in Catholic schools and she really wanted me to go to Bishop Eustace (one of the top Catholic Schools near me) In the end I picked to go to Washington Township HS....the good ol' public school. While its not the best school, its a good school and most people think that because the school has over 3000 kids people think i have like 50 kids in a class. Really my largest had 25 kids, smaller than my friend's class who goes to Bishop Eustace. I chose to go to public because of the facilities that would further advance my carreer choice. One day i hope to work in communications as a director or be a broadcaster. Washington Twp. HS has a state of the art broadcasting facility that is a college level course. So for me, TWP was the obvious choice. My brother however, may be different. Our public school is NOT good for sports. With all those kids its hard to get spotted for scholarships and to be a star. He may go to Catholic, not because he doesnt like TWP, but because he could get a scholarship for say football,and it would be easier to be spotted at a smaller school. In the end it all depends on your child and their personality.

 

[schmitty]

It depends. The high school I went to was a catholic high school and grade school. It was a great education, better than alot of the schools I would of gone to. However the choices in classes you can take are alot less. Basically everyone took the exact same classes except some would be AP and honors. In grade school we would have PE everyday, art once or twice a week. If I was my parents I would have chosen to send my kids to a catholic school because it had a better education but less things to choose from. That can be scene as a good or bad thing because I ended up getting a really good well rounded education but also if there was something I was really interested in I couldn't really take any classes that are more specific to it.


To the person who is from Baltimore and doesn't like the catholic elementary school in there area. I don't see any reason for an elementary school to have an occupational therapist.

 

[Beth76]

I don't know how public schools are in your area. Here, they're very good. I'm sure the parochial schools are better, but the money I save would be better served in their college funds.

 

[golfgal]

I didn't vote because it is really hard to say. Most of it will depend on the quality of the school. DS14 went to public school for kindergarten because we couldn't find a Catholic school we liked, then we moved and he went to Catholic school because that was the best school in town and because we really missed things the Catholic school offered (we both went to Catholic schools). We then pulled him out of that school and put him in the public school because his classmates were horrible and some of the teachers he had were awful. He is still in public schools.

The twins started Catholic preschool and went through 5th grade. They would have still been in the Catholic school had we not moved. We moved to a district with some of the best schools in the nation and it was an easy choice to send them to the public school. We miss the Catholic/religious aspect of their schooling but overall they will be better off in the public schools here.

 

[schmitty]

I chose to go to public because of the facilities that would further advance my carreer choice.

I find that sad because an education shouldn't be about training people to go out into the work place. It should be about educating us about as many different things as possible.

 

[golfgal]

To the person who is from Baltimore and doesn't like the catholic elementary school in there area. I don't see any reason for an elementary school to have an occupational therapist.

Occupational therapists are found in most public schools around here. They are there to assist with the special needs kids, who by federal law, have to get what ever they need to help them do better in school.