Well, some of you may remember that I posted about ds's large class size - 32 in K. Well, I have been helping out in ds's class and I can tell he is just so overwhelmed with all the kids in his class. He is so quiet and shy, a big change from how he was at his old school. He also is a good student who does his work, so he really doesn't get much attention from his teacher. In her defense, she has too much to deal with - behavior problems, special needs and just the large number of students in general.

I decided to check out the catholic school at our new parish. I really like it. Smaller class sizes and a teacher with a full time aid. I asked ds's current teacher about the school and she said the school has an excellant reputation. She knows several people that have the dks in school there and they all love it. Ds is on the waiting list for next year. We will find out in April. Please keep us in your prayers. I am so hoping he gets in.

Have any of you had experience with Catholic schools??? I would love to hear feedback.

By Jclark222 on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 09:30 am:

I went to Catholic School from K-12. We had small classes with individual attention and much more advanced learning than our public school system. I made great friends and had a wonderful experience. I will put my son in Catholic School for sure. Good Luck. I hope you have as good of an experience as I did.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 09:41 am:

I taught for several years in a Catholic school and loved it. Of course not all Catholic schools are the same. Talk with parents who have children enrolled there. Visit the school and get a feel for it. I hope everything works out for you. Thirty-two students in a Kindergarten class is OUTRAGEOUS!!

By Cat on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 11:00 am:

No experience here, but I hope it works out and he gets in! Good luck!

By Debbie on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 11:05 am:

Trina, we did visit and I really liked it. I also talked to a woman when I was in the church office. She has all 3 of her girls there. She said nothing but wonderful things about the school. They are in the process of expanding right now, that is why ds has a good chance of getting in. They are adding a new grade each year, next year it will be 1st, which is what ds will be. I was disappointed that I can't get my youngest in for preschool. The waiting list is so long...20 ahead of him, so his chance is pretty slim. However, if Jordan gets in for next year, then I can get Josh in for Kindergarten the following year.

I just don't want to get my hopes up in case he doesn't get in.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 12:39 pm:

Do you have to be Catholic or belong to the parish to get in?

By Melanie on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 01:18 pm:

Fingers and toes crossed and prayers being sent!

I went to a Catholic high school for 11th 12th grades. I loved it. Like Trina said, all schools are different, but I just found the energy within the school to be so much better than when I was at public school.

By Mommmie on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 01:54 pm:

Fingers crossed!

That's cool the Catholic school has smaller class sizes than the public school. We are the opposite here. There are 30 in Catholic classes and 22 in public.

I hope it all works out the way you want it to! I remember waiting to hear if my son got into private school last year (for this year). I could barely breathe until they called offering him a spot. Then I jumped up and down like a ninny. Our 3 years in public school were just horrible.

By Kay on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 02:26 pm:

I'm a product of 12 years of Catholic schooling - my dh started there later because he's a few years older and it wasn't built yet. We have had 2 children graduate from the same schools and go to college, and have one in junior high there.

We're in Texas, and my dks have never been in a classroom with more than 25 students.

By Debbie on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 02:47 pm:

Glad to hear everyone has had such positive experiences. Dh went to cathlic school until high school and my mom went to catholic schools. They both had no problems and felt they got a good education.

Trina, we are actually catholic and this is our parish. You do have to be catholic to attend. However, you don't necessarily have to belong to this parish. You do have to belong to the parish though to get on the waiting list, and then once they go down the waiting list they open up to the other parishes in the area. My understanding is that this rarely happens, they usually get full with just the people from the parish. We were in such a great school district in Texas that we really didn't consider catholic schools back then. However, here is a different story. Ds's school has a great reputation, but with the change in class size this year and all the cutbacks who knows what will happen.

Laura, the catholic school actually has 28 in first grade with 1 teacher and a full time aid. However, the public school here is averaging 33-35 in 1st with no aid. Even though it is larger then some public school, it is still better then were he is now.

By Bubbels~admin on Thursday, February 5, 2004 - 08:25 am:

Debbie, I attended Catholic school my entire school life, as have all four of my DK's. Mainly, that's because the public schools, except for a handful, in this area are absolutely horrible. I believe they're scoring somewhere near the bottom in the country.

I really enjoyed it, and my DK's do too. There's the bonus of the religious education and making their First Reconciliation, First Communion and Confirmation through school, rather than through outside Cathechism classes. Our Catholic schools generally score well on the national tests. I'm very pleased, and I think you will be too. Good luck. Hope they get in!