<p>“At the school where I taught a child like the OP’s niece would not get the attention of anyone. It sounds like she isn’t failing anything and she isn’t a troublemaker. As long as her test scores were ok and she wasn’t causing problems nobody would notice her at all.”</p>
<p>^^^^ This. That is exactly what was happening to my kid. At my local high school we call these kids “the vast middle.”</p>
<p>The super stars and the kids who are really struggling get all the attention. And this is a high school which is the best in my region and sends a lot of kids to the most selective colleges and uni’s. </p>
<p>@Proudpatriot says it wonderfully! It is the culture. It is all around the students in their environment. So at these prep schools, it seems very natural for all the students to strive for and work for college.</p>
<p>I also like that ProudPatriot pointed out that:</p>
<p>Just going to say as someone who went to Catholic school that this is not universally true. </p>
<p>Also speaking as a non-Catholic who went to a Catholic school, I just caution you if your niece is not Catholic. My particular school downright bullied non-Catholics- teachers and students alike. I know of many Catholic schools that are not like that but I know of several Catholic schools that are. Just something to keep in mind when looking at schools. </p>
<p>Romani,
I’m so sorry that your Catholic school was not welcoming, kind or open to students from other faiths. That is not in the spirit of the Catholic faith itself. Please don’t think that all Catholics are rude.</p>
<p>It may be dependent on the geographical area. The culture at our Catholic Prep school is extremely welcoming to all creeds and all students. Our school has students from all over the world, and of many different faiths, including Islam, Hindu, Jewish, agnostic, and many more. It is a friendly environment. Any rude treatment of any student, for any reason, but especially for being of a different faith, would totally NOT be tolerated at their school. Bullying and disrespect are not permitted at their school. They really strive to be like a family, welcoming, warm and kind.<br>
Their Catholic Prep, as a whole, truly lives its philosophy.</p>
<p>This is a very much YMMV situation depending on the individual school concerned, whether public or private. </p>
<p>In my area, many parents especially Catholics are aware of differences between great Catholic prep schools like Regis, respectable/average Catholic schools, and Catholic schools to be avoided if good academics are remotely on the agenda. Many Catholic neighbors made it a point to recommend the great/respectable Catholic schools/colleges and mention ones to be avoided with any notable exceptions. </p>
<p>This extends to Catholic colleges as well. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not always. </p>
<p>My Mississippi cousins had the misfortune of wasting a year at a crappy private school which turned out to have been a former “Segregation academy”. After finding the curricula to be abysmally low and the schools actually worse academically than the local publics…which were abysmal due to decades of neglect and White flight, their parents ended up having to send one to a NE prep school and another to a much more rigorous credible Catholic prep school after doing much more checking rather than assuming private school are all better than public school. </p>
<p>I also have friends/colleagues from Virginia who recounted how one local private school and former “Segregation Academy” was so abysmal most ended up in community colleges or bottom-tiered local colleges. Even the val who was known in the local community barely lasted 3 semesters at a mid-tier local public college before flunking out. </p>
<p>In short, there are good and bad private schools just like there are good and bad public schools/districts. </p>
<p>We aren’t discussing segregation academies. Not even close! @@</p>
<p>As to the OP’s original question, I don’t think anyone can predict how the niece will do in the new school. Some kids will do what it takes to get an A- where ever they are, others will want the A+ and will step up. Another really might find work at the new school too hard, or at least take a little time to get up to speed. Only hindsight is 20/20 and sometimes not even hindsight is.</p>
<p>We had our non-Catholic kids in a Catholic lower school for a few years- and I knew a number of girls in the senior high. (It is a k-12 school.) I found the religious differences were more prominent in lower school, through that phase of their lives, when things like First Communion were a bigger deal to them than to us. The upper school gals were sweetly egalitarian. (We moved them out because of issues unique to that lower school, nothing to do with religion; I adored the nun principal.) </p>
<p>I changed schools at the beginning of 11th, because of a family move to the DC suburbs, which has some extraordinary publics. Before, I was a top kid. Yes, the new challenges took some adjustment. I often use the example of my former honors courses using textbooks the new hs (a public) assigned kids who struggled with English. But to follow Hanna’s comment, “When there’s a greater academic challenge on the table, and the student wants to take it, I say take it,” I completely agree.Yes my grades went down at first and it changed my college direction. The difference in the level of peer thinking and analysis, empowerment, awareness, challenges they took on, etc, and the level of teaching, itself, was an extraordinary influence. (Of course, some of this was the DC influence.) All these decades later, I have zero regrets. I know what I got from that. </p>
<p>I had an issue there with a cookie cutter GC and my mother insisted on a reassignment to an experienced older guy who know his stuff and made plenty of time for me.</p>
<p>We moved our kids to a prep, for ms/hs. All isn’t always roses at a prep. Forget the stereotypes, take a hard look at the particular school. There can be income disparities, some snotty kids, some who test the limits, “because they can.” And some who don’t take college as seriously, just coast through. You have to keep an eye on what the kid experiences, per your own values.</p>
<p>I hate to be the one who says this but some of my family members went to a top Catholic school. From what I saw, they and their friends were absolute angels in front of teachers and parents. But while with their friends, they were extremely promiscuous and used alcohol and narcotics more so than the mere public school students. The money their families had have them a better opportunity to behave badly and to cover it up. Just saying. </p>
<p>Parents and Aunts taking on the role of Parents: Your Catholic school children may be angels with you, but behind closed doors, it could be a whole new ball game. Don’t just assume that students are some how sweeter and less likely to get in trouble while in private catholic schools. It’s the quite and nice ones that will surprise you the most.</p>
<p>Well, there’s ^ a scare story for you. Based on anecdotes about one school and your perception? There are many fine schools across this land and many serious kids, doing amazing things. And along the way, some problem kids. You want everyone to steer clear of Catholic preps? Or be suspicious of that nice quiet kid?</p>
<p>“But while with their friends, they were extremely promiscuous and used alcohol and narcotics more so than the mere public school students. The money their families had have them a better opportunity to behave badly and to cover it up. Just saying.”</p>
<p>The kids in my school district have parents with plenty of money, too. Plenty of drugs, alcohol and promiscuous behavior there, too. </p>
<p>The SES of kids at his private school was probably lower. A lot had scholarships. </p>
<p>Our schools are similar to what AnnieBeats described above – the point is not that a single school is good or bad, or the kids at one school make good decisions or not. The advice to the OP is to look at the specific public and Catholic schools closely, get beneath the surface. The simple fact that a school requires tuition does not make it better than the available public. Some publics are bad, some Catholic schools are bad, and vice versa. The concern I had with the OP’s original post was that somehow moving to a Catholic school, in itself, would be an improvement. That can only be assessed by looking at the curriculum, outcomes, culture and community at the two schools being compared. </p>
<p>My basic underlying point is that one cannot always assume private schools are always the better more academically rigorous schools compared with public schools. </p>
<p>Depends on which particular private school and which particular public school/district. </p>
<p>OP, leave that girl alone. She is doing fine in public school. Why are you worried about a lower GPA at a tougher school?</p>
<p>Yes, I think you are wasting money with segregation academies, fundamentalists Christian schools, and most Catholic schools. They aren’t significantly better than public schools.</p>
<p>Cobrat, no one is making that assumption. The post you are responding spoke of “parental perception in our community.” of a particular Catholic school. It did not assert “Everyone knows that all Catholic schools everywhere are x.” Pointing out an exception is not useful if the poster never claimed that their experience was universal. </p>
<p>@lookinforward It isn’t a scare story. It’s called a true story and it’s more common than you think. It seems like all the OPs concerns can be solved by the more taking a little bit of initiative. </p>
<p>I am curious why the niece is hanging with a crowd that is not acceptable. Has anyone asked her? Does she identify with this group? What about this group is questionable? Could she possibly be a leader in this group? </p>
<p>@AnnieBeats,
It’s obvious you are not a fan of Catholic schools. </p>
<p>Your story can be applied to almost ANY high school, Catholic, private or public. No one here claimed every single student at every single Catholic School is a perfect angel.</p>
<p>Sure, at every single school, whether Catholic or public, there are the ones who drink and are not models of the the best behavior. Believe me, the teachers, administration and other students all know who they are. People aren’t clueless.</p>
<p>But to disparage an entire set of religious based schools based on the small percentage of students who are in the “bad crowd” of a school… </p>