<p>good match is the most important. My S would not fit into private school and he had smarts to go where he belonged - public. D. has been in tiny private elementary/junior (only 4 kids in her 8th grade). Public would have been a shock. She ended up at the smallest private HS in our area (33 kids in her class) where she found life long group of friends and great preparation for college. As college junior she credits her HS for her academic success, mentioned it many times.</p>
<p>I took a look at the list of nominees for Presidential Scholars this year. Our city’s two large, diverse, public high schools produced three; the city’s Catholic and independent high schools had none.</p>
<p>^^^ It really depends on they year for those kinds of awards. Some years the private schools do really well, other years it’s the publics. Depends.</p>
<p>One aspect that determined our D & S move to private Catholic HS from public jr. high: we have to drive by local public HS daily…the minute school is out, the place is a ghost town, empty parking lot. (Also at lunch as they have open campus)</p>
<p>And as I noticed yet again today after S’s soccer game: His school was a buzz of activity all day today (9 a.m. all the way to when I left at 4 p.m.)…not just with athletic activities, play and club activities…but kids just hanging out, meeting up with friends. (And they have closed campus at lunch. D couldn’t understand how publics ever get club meetings, teacher help, community building, etc., when one is not on campus).
Another thing that drove me personally nuts in public school: constant days off, half days, early dismissals. Parents working full time had my sympathies…</p>
<p>Much like choosing a college…this private HS just had the right “feel”. No regrets, will miss it when S graduates…</p>
<p>
Oxymoron, and quite possibly an inaccurate generalization at that. I agree with a previous poster to ask non-Catholic STUDENTS at the particular Catholic school you’re considering how they feel about the religion issue. Sometimes religion classes can be truly inclusive; other times it’s a period a day of indoctrination to tune out. (I have no personal experience with Catholic schools, but the latter is true of certain religiously-affiliated schools in my area.)</p>
<p>Also, I’ve “heard” of high schools that have open campus for lunch–I wish I attended one! But most that I know of with the open-campus lunch policy are actually privates. It doesn’t seem to be popular among publics around me, probably due to safety concerns (school is responsible for student during school hours, including lunch).</p>
<p>My school apparently had an open-campus policy a decade ago. I’m quite jealous that they changed that policy! It would be nice to hang out in the courtyards that are now closed off due to safety issues (I have no idea, since the courtyards are closed spaces).</p>
<p>"I took a look at the list of nominees for Presidential Scholars this year. Our city’s two large, diverse, public high schools produced three; the city’s Catholic and independent high schools had none. "</p>
<p>-This type of statistics when deciding kids’s HS might be less important than kid/school match. If kid is unhappy for 4 years, it will affect his/her academic and social life, both crucial and deciding factors with life long consequences.</p>
<p><a href=“I%20have%20no%20personal%20experience%20with%20Catholic%20schools,%20but%20the%20latter%20is%20true%20of%20certain%20religiously-affiliated%20schools%20in%20my%20area.”>QUOTE</a>
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<p>Your post was much more of a generalization than the quote you referred to. Catholic schools are of a different sort, in terms of religious instruction, than non-Catholic Christian schools. If you don’t know the difference, don’t post generalizations. There is no indoctrination of non-Catholics in modern Catholic schools. All students are required to attend the same instruction and listen respectfully. There are not required to assent to beliefs, recite, state their own beliefs, or undergo conversion of any kind. They are (as an aspect of respectful attendance) required also to attend (passively) monthly and special-event liturgies that occur during the school day, without having to participate, utter prayers, etc. Jews, Muslims, Baptists, Hindus, Buddhists, Sufis, agnostics, atheists, and more attend modern Catholic schools without being indoctrinated. </p>
<p>There are some non-Catholic religious schools (and formerly, decades-ago, generations ago, Catholic schools as well) in which the level of religious content is more intense, more saturated than at a modern Catholic school. Whether those schools specifically “indoctrinate” is something I have no personal knowledge of and therefore am in no position to make a statement about. However, certainly any setting which features saturation of religiosity (including prayers as well as instruction as well as recitation as well as, potentially, “testifying”) could make a student feel ‘indoctrinated’ merely by the level of immersion and participation.</p>
<p>^While I have no personal negative experiences with Catholic schools, I have HEARD of some Catholic schools that are similarly “more intense, more saturated.” I definitely know of Catholic schools with de facto daily prayer. You generalize to say that all Catholic schools are friendly to non-believers/non-Catholics, which is simply not the case. Perhaps the chance is higher with Catholic schools than with other Christian schools, but it’s still a good deal lower than attending a secular public school.</p>
<p>Just returned from our informal 2-hour visit with the public school. After calling the superintendent, the school allowed us to sit in on a couple of classes. The principal and the head of counseling, as well as the counselor who would be assigned to D, met us before the tour and answered our questions. </p>
<p>The best part is that the head counselor informed me that ever since my initial visitation request, he had been thinking about “shadow days” (as the Catholic school calls them). He remembered that growing up, all of the kids in his public school had a shadow day before high school. He spoke with the principal about it, and they are now in the process of trying to make it part of the school year (spread out over 3 days, in order to accomodate all of the incoming 8th graders). And better yet, they are allowing D to have a real “shadow day” next week (their suggestions, not mine)- even better than I imagined! </p>
<p>Now D can evaluate both schools on an equal level. Thanks CC parents! Because of your encouragement, our public school is probably going to institute a new policy!</p>
<p>Funny thing - while we were walking around with the students in the hallways, D saw a friend who was beyond perplexed at our presence. She would ask “why are you here?” D would respond “we wanted to check it out to see if I want to go here”. Friend would say “I don’t understand?!” Too funny!</p>
<p>Wonderful news sydsim!</p>
<p>Happy decision making!</p>
<p>sydsim, I think that says a lot about the people who run the high school. Not every administration is willing to rethink policies, much less go as far as this school has. I think it’s a very good sign as to how they treat their students.</p>