Son goes to Public School 6th grade. Middle school in our public school district is 7-8th grade. There’s a really good College Prep Catholic School in our city that we want him to go to. We know some older boys that go there and they confirm is really good and my son likes the school too. Here’s our choices so far:
Stay in competitive public middle school
Go to Catholic middle school (pretty small…30-40 kids per grade, 1 grade per class, sports through local Catholic youth sports program). They say 95% graduates get to go to Catholic HS of choice.
Medium size local Christian school (18-20 kids per class), Good sports choices, good facilities. Teach all the way through HS. Most HS graduates go to state universities and some go to elite (MIT, Stanford, etc). Didn’t see Ivy’s on the list (doesn’t concern me too much other than getting idea on how good education is at the school).
keep looking…
Public school is pretty competitive but you need to scrape, claw and plan way ahead to get good electives, teachers, etc. This is mainly due to crowded and super competitive nature of the school district. Even my son notices that most of his peers have a competitive relationship with each other rather than pure friendship. Also, since middle school is 7-8th grade, they are a year behind in Math compared to neighboring school districts that have 6-8th grade middle school. The public schools in our city rate pretty high but I’ve seen them decline compared to neighboring cities over the past 5 years.
Christian School told me during tour that they will let our son place in whatever math he can handle (he takes online math courses and could conceivably take Algebra I by 7th grade). Not too expensive for private school. Would only plan to go there 2 years, though (if plans still work out for College prep school), not sure he will make lasting friendships there unless he stays there through HS.
Catholic School would in theory be best avenue to Prep HS of choice since my son would have a better chance on getting in. Just not sure my son will like it since they don’t have team sports (he’s active in sports) and not sure if STEM courses are at advance level compared to public school.
I don’t know about your area but even the best Catholic high schools around here are desperate for students. Several are closing that just a few years ago seemed to be bursting at the seems with students.
Catholic schools are not all created equal. Some are very conservative and I’d be concerned about sending my STEM interested child to one where there are biblical teachings in science. Otoh there are some that are quite liberal and confine religion to religion courses. That would be a concern to me as someone who went to Catholic school for k-8
My Lutheran kids had a great experience at a Catholic prep school, but they had 75 per grade in middle school and school sponsored sports. If you are concerned, they aren’t going to try and convert your son to Catholicism, but he will have to take a couple classes on the subject and probably have to attend (but not be required to participate) in Mass.
We are not Catholic but not too concerned about it. Catholic Schools in our area are pretty liberal and don’t exclude non catholics from Mass ceremonies.
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my STEM interested child to one where there are biblical teachings in science.
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I have never heard of a Catholic high school that includes any sort of “biblical teachings” in science courses. Can you name any particular Catholic high schools that do that??
Catholics don’t have a teaching that the earth is only several thousand years old.
If you want him to go to the Catholic high school, call and ask them what the best path is. We have one here that turns away many students every year, but it is not affiliated with a parish and I don’t think there is any preference given to attending a particular Catholic k-8 school. There is a preference for legacies, siblings, and other ties to the school, so since the school has been around for 100 years and most of those legacies and siblings are Catholic, then there is a preference for Catholics. From my daughter’s catholic school, 13 of the 19 boys in her class went. One had been wait listed but he did get in.
Call the admissions office and ask them. They will know if there are certain schools, Catholic or public, that send a lot of students to that high school. They will know what criteria they look for (placement exam, grades, courses).
“Catholic schools are not all created equal. Some are very conservative and I’d be concerned about sending my STEM interested child to one where there are biblical teachings in science”
Really? Have absolutely never heard of a Catholic school that adheres literally to “God created the world 6000 years ago.” I wonder if you are confusing this with fundamentalist / evangelical Protestant faiths who are biblical literalists.
(There’s a reason there are great Catholic universities such as ND and Georgetown, but not fundy Protestsnt ones.)
I would find out the Catholic middle school’s curriculum. If the high school is very good and the middle school is a “feeder,” then I can’t imagine the Catholic middle school is not competitive. I think a smaller environment in middle school is better than a large one. Middle school kids (specially girls) can be catty and exclusive. It seems to get better once they get to high school. A smaller school may be more collegial and be more conducive for learning.
Some delusional Catholic school teachers still won’t teach evolution. We had one that refused at our kid’s Catholic middle school (she came from a conservative South American country - don’t know if that was a factor). We showed her Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on how evolution is consistent with Catholic teachings. We brought up the curriculum, which follows the state curriculum, and mandates teaching of evolution. We went to the principal and got nowhere (she was intimidated by this teacher). Finally we complained to our priest.
I found it quite entertaining that the solution to the problem ended up being the priest, who was a former high school Biology teacher, taught the lessons on evolution.
My kid’s Catholic high school is very forward thinking and encourages open discussion of ideas.
My D attended Catholic HS after going to a very progressive/liberal/secular K-8 school, which sends 1-3 students to that HS almost every year. There was clearly a preference for legacies (not us) and Catholic elementary/middle schools, but acceptance was otherwise based on merit (and, to some degree, ability to pay). There was a standardized admission test, also.
Her school was also well-reputed with the colleges preferred by the students and families (not Ivy’s, though)
The Catholic HSs around here are competitive for admission and growing; a new one was built in the last few years.
Her teachers were all good to excellent. She did have one religion teacher who didn’t believe in evolution, but the students recognized that as inconsistent with the beliefs of the Church. Most of the religion classes were fairly basic, and many encouraged open discussion of issues.
Your son would be best off in the MS where he would be most comfortable and able to do well. Good luck!
I got an adequate science education at my school. It was at least on-par with regular public school science classes, and our biology class was pretty rigorous. I’m not Catholic but claiming that the (modern) Catholic Church is opposed to science is pretty wrong. They support evolution and as a whole aren’t anti-intellectual like the WBC. Catholic schools (including universities) aren’t renowned for their science courses, but as a whole they are rigorous enough.
That’s not to say all Catholic schools are good. But if you want your son to go to a Catholic school and it’s a well perceived institution, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with sending him there.
I did have to take a required religion class which meant that I didn’t have any electives though. I don’t know if that’s important to you or your son.
We have 4 kids. They have attended public, private, highly competitive private, Catholic sports boarding and conventional boarding schools. The Catholic school was elementary and middle school and was by far the least fancy (and the least expensive by a long shot, other than the public school, of course). They have done gifted programming, online learning and other enrichment activities.
We felt the Catholic school was the best experience because it focused on building a solid foundation in the academic basics and they were values driven so kindness and compassion and inclusion were part of the every day experience-they were a community, a family, not cliquish and competitive. You can’t underestimate the value of a healthy environment. They launched one of our kids in to Honors Algebra 2 as a 9th grader and another of our children is in AP Calc BC as a sophomore.
We are absolutely in support of Catholic education for elementary and middle school (and high school, too). If your child/children have the talent, they will rise to it regardless of which school they attend. You have to weigh the value of emotional intelligence and a supportive environment to you. They already have the advantage of having parents who are aware and seeking opportunities. It is a pain to have to do extracurricular activities outside of the school but it is worth it in the long run to have the healthier community environment, in my opinion and experience. Good luck deciding. Happy to chat by PM if you want to explore more.
Request a visit at the schools with your son. Both of you need to see and “feel” the schools in person.
30-40 kids in a classroom is pretty darn big IMO. 18-20 per class sounds pretty wonderful if it’s a good school.
Remember to look beyond the extracurriculars - it’s easy to get sucked up into “we have one million clubs and winning sports teams!” mentality of any school. Visit the science rooms and see what type of equipment/labs they have. Secure a jr. high English syllabus and see what they are reading. Stuff like that.
Oops-punctuation error above-sorry-they did not attend a Catholic sports boarding academy. It was a Catholic school. Sports boarding academy was separate.
I’m not really sure why people are disagreeing with me. I went to Catholic school not even 10 years ago and my school didn’t teach evolution. To say these schools don’t exist is simply not true.
All I said was look into it. Why is that controversial? What harm is there in making sure there’s a curriculum that’s good for your child?
I remember in our Catholic high school tours - the last one in 2010 (my 3 went to Catholic K-8 and in 8th everyone routinely visited all the local Catholic high schools) getting in a big discussion with some parents - a couple who are research docs - about the fact that it was asked and mentioned that evolution would NOT be taught/discussed/mentioned as part of the HS science curriculum in at least a couple of the high schools.
There were 25-30 kids in our Catholic school classes. It wasn’t an issue because of the structure and the culture of respect. Spending more per student (which all of the other schools did) does not equal a better education.
And 30-40 is a good bit different than 25-30 - ask most any teacher!