GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Here’s what to consider if you’re thinking about Catholic school for your child
LAURA Cermisa moved to Brooklyn’s Windsor Terrace so her two young daughters could attend District 15’s excellent public schools. Then came the pandemic. “Online classes were really hard on my first grader. You can’t learn to read on Zoom,” Cermisa recalled. “She wasn’t progressing academically, and she was also quite depressed.”
The desperate mom called St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy, her local parochial school. “And I was amazed. They were open — like, actually open, full time. I enrolled them,” Cermisa said. “Catholic school was never part of our plan. But then I stayed because of the experience here. I couldn’t be happier.”
Eula Buckley of Queens grew up in a staunch Baptist family, but when her fifth-grade son was unhappy in his school, she sought an alternative at Divine Wisdom Academy in Douglaston.
“It’s more of a community than a school,” Buckley said. “When you’re walking in, you’re walking into a family. And I got that feeling right away.”
Every Catholic school family has its own story. And every January, as parochial schools in New York and nationwide open their doors to celebrate Catholic Schools Week, prospective parents and students have a chance to see these faith-filled communities in action.
Here are some questions that visitors often ask — or should.
Do all students have to take religion class?
In a word, yes. Catholic schools welcome students of all faiths, and all of them take religion as a required classroom subject at every grade level.
“Even if a child didn’t sit through a formal religion class, they are immersed in who we are as a Catholic community,” noted Linda Dougherty of the Archdiocese of New York. “Everything we do has a meaning and purpose rooted in our faith: We pray, we attend mass, we do all kinds of acts of social justice and service.” feel the religious instruction has a big influence on the character of the school,” Cermisa said.
Is it expensive?
Each Catholic school sets its own tuition rates. Fees for elementary schools in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn commonly range between $4,500 and $6,000 per child per year, with steep discounts when siblings are enrolled.
High school tuition costs vary widely, from a low of about $2,500 at Cristo Rey HS — where students take work-study jobs to help fund their education — to $50,000 or more. Some schools offer full or partial academic scholarships.
At the elementary school level, privately funded need-based scholarship programs are available in each diocese.
“We raise about $7 million every year to help kids who need scholarships through a group called Futures in Education,” said Monsignor David Cassato of the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Do parents feel like partners?
“At St. Joe’s, it’s really a partnership between teachers, administrators and parents,” Cermisa said. “They’re so invested in the wellbeing of the children, emotionally as well as educationally.”
Her daughters immediately picked up on their new school’s commitment to cura personalis , or “care for the whole person” — not in those words, of course.
“I just remember her saying, ‘Mom, my old principal never knew my name. This principal does,’ ” Cermisa recalled. “It really made her feel special. So, it’s good to speak with the school leadership to understand how open they are to parental opinions and ideas,” she advised. “Is this someone you can see yourself partnering with?”
Can my child have a trial run?
Divine Wisdom and many other Catholic schools offer “shadow days” for prospective students.
“They pair them up with a buddy at their age level, and they go through a whole day with the class,” Buckley said.
For her son, that single school day sealed the deal.
“He loved it — he actually didn’t want to wait to enroll the following year, he wanted to start at the school the following week,” she recalled, laughing. “He actually went back to his old school and told everyone he was leaving. After that one day, he was all in.”
Are there academic ‘extras’?
Catholic schools follow the same state curriculum standards taught in public schools, plus religion classes. But many schools take pride in academic and extracurric“I ular programs that offer students further enrichment or assistance.
For example, St. Stanislaus Kostka in Greenpoint recently installed a Wi-Fi-connected rooftop weather station for the school’s science classes and Meteorology Club to use. The robotics program at St. Bartholomew’s in Elmhurst develops students’ teamwork, engineering and communication skills. Many schools, including St. Athanasius
in Bensonhurst, have dedicated learning centers for students who need extra academic support.
“We’re here to help each one individually achieve,” Cassato said.
Is faith in the forefront?
“When parents visit our schools, we hope they’ll see evidence of our faith-based activities,” Dougherty said. “Look for a bulletin board that reflects the social service projects the students are doing, or displays about what they’re learning in religion class.” Each month, the archdiocese asks its schools to highlight a particular Christian value — such as hospitality, prudence or charity — as a focus of action and reflection. Teachers explain the idea with the help of a biblical quote and design lessons on the theme.
“It’s faith, it’s academics, it’s community, it’s family,” Buckley said. “They learn everything about life when they’re here. And when they walk out of these doors, I think they have everything they need to be a total human being. That’s worth every bit of effort we put into it.”