{"id":2252,"date":"2008-01-27T10:09:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-27T10:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/why-non-catholics-like-catholic-schools.html"},"modified":"2008-01-27T10:09:00","modified_gmt":"2008-01-27T10:09:00","slug":"why-non-catholics-like-catholic-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/why-non-catholics-like-catholic-schools.html","title":{"rendered":"Why non-Catholics like Catholic schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

If anyone wonders why non-Catholics would want to send their kids to Catholic school, the Georgia Bulletin has a heartening explanation<\/a>: <\/p>\n

<\/a> Recommendations from other parents and a long-standing reputation as effective educators who also address a student\u2019s moral development are key reasons why non-Catholic parents choose Catholic schools for their children.<\/p>\n

Jamal Burt, who is Christian but not Catholic, is both a teacher and the parent of a student at St. Peter Claver School in Decatur.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a product of Catholic schools from first to eighth grade,\u201d said the teacher who grew up in New Jersey. \u201cMy education received a jumpstart (in a Catholic elementary school), and when I went to a public high school I saw that I had an advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described the experience of attending a Catholic school as \u201cintense\u201d and \u201cexciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re able to talk about faith, to talk about God specifically. To me, it\u2019s an important part of socializing a person. To have to take that component out is a huge detriment.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is happy that his son, Isaiah, a kindergartner, can \u201cget the most out of his time here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best things is the small teacher-student ratio,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With order, learning can take place. \u201cWhat wows me is when the children walk down the hall. You can tell the disciplining that goes on here. They\u2019re taught to focus. … Kids can act crazy, but children out there need to learn to listen and pay attention, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The middle school language arts teacher is currently reading \u201cTo Kill a Mocking Bird\u201d with his eighth-grade students and discussing social issues prevalent in 1935.<\/p>\n

\u201cReading unlocks doors in the brain. If you do that, you can escape anything,\u201d Burt said.<\/p>\n

Besides being very good with children, the Morehouse graduate confided that his mother taught for 29 years \u201cso it runs in the family.\u201d He appreciates the open communication between faculty and parents and believes the faculty and staff \u201creally care about every kid that comes through here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not many teaching candidates would choose to tackle middle school education.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot are afraid of teaching middle school, but I think it\u2019s the perfect age. They\u2019re old enough to understand but still young enough to be molded,\u201d Burt said, adding later, \u201cI just want to make sure children avoid certain pitfalls when they\u2019re older. I\u2019m reaching a hand back and hoping they\u2019ll avoid (the bad) things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mawuli Davis, another St. Peter Claver School parent, sees the sad effects of poor judgment by youth in his work as a criminal defense attorney.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of young people are not learning what consequences are,\u201d said Davis. \u201cThey haven\u2019t come to understand the need for personal discipline. These two things are huge in the educational experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled his own high school days when he attended a Catholic high school in Chicago with \u201cthe Christian Brothers and coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a society, we\u2019ve moved away from being accountable to a group of people to a focus on what\u2019s best for me. What\u2019s best for you might be detrimental to the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He and his wife, Jana Johnson-Davis, a schoolteacher, decided to consider St. Peter Claver for their two children\u2014Khari, a second-grader, and Kobie, a fourth-grader\u2014when another teacher spoke of the school\u2019s strong academic program among other things. They looked at many schools, both private and public, before eventually settling on St. Peter Claver, which offers a \u201creally good education both academically as well as socially,\u201d said Mawuli, who also attended a Catholic elementary school.<\/p>\n

He said they are comfortable with the student population and the sense that their fourth-grader and his classmates \u201ccan be 8- to 9-year-olds, not 14.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also remains impressed at how well-behaved the children are. \u201cOur concern was that our children might come home saying and doing things we don\u2019t approve of that were things they had learned at school. Last night my son was singing a Christian song. Had he had another experience (in a different school) he might have been singing a Top 40 song.\u201d<\/p>\n

The behavior of his peers was \u201ca big factor\u201d in their school decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more than achieving As and Bs in math; the fundamentals are important,\u201d Davis said. \u201c(Catholic schools) shape character and integrity. They communicate the need to do the right thing in the right way.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There’s much much more at the link<\/a>, so check it out. It’s a great reminder of something so many of us have taken for granted. <\/p>\n

Photo: by Michael Alexander, Georgia Bulletin<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If anyone wonders why non-Catholics would want to send their kids to Catholic school, the Georgia Bulletin has a heartening explanation: Recommendations from other parents and a long-standing reputation as effective educators who also address a student\u2019s moral development are key reasons why non-Catholic parents choose Catholic schools for their children. 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