{"id":2363,"date":"2011-01-26T05:04:13","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T13:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/?p=2363"},"modified":"2014-01-10T13:30:56","modified_gmt":"2014-01-10T21:30:56","slug":"101-reasons-to-send-your-child-to-a-catholic-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/101-reasons-to-send-your-child-to-a-catholic-school","title":{"rendered":"101 Reasons to Send Your Child to a Catholic School"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
Billings Central Catholic High School Class of 1984<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With Catholic Schools Week 2011 nearly upon us, Catholic schools all over the country are about to celebrate the gift of Catholic education. My own involvement in Catholic education has been a blessing I could never repay. From first grade through high school, from undergraduate to graduate school, I spent nineteen years as a student in Catholic schools. Currently I am in the middle of my twenty-first year as a teacher in Catholic schools. That means I have spent about 90 percent of my life in Catholic classrooms.\u00a0 And I’m not sure which portion of that time–as a student or as a teacher–has taught me more.<\/p>\n

Regardless, I’m not the only one to have benefited from the time I’ve spent within the halls of the Church’s most effective means of catechesis. As a tribute to all those whose efforts make Catholic schools possible, here is my list of 101 reasons to send a child to a Catholic school. Though there are many more reasons I could mention, the focus of this list is mostly on things that can only be found in a Catholic school. They are not in any particular order.<\/p>\n

Why should you send your children to a Catholic school? So they can experience:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Prayer each morning before the school day begins<\/li>\n
  2. Prayer before eating lunch<\/li>\n
  3. Prayer at the end of each school day<\/li>\n
  4. A Christmas concert rather than a \u201cWinter Concert\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. Weekly Mass with their closest friends<\/li>\n
  6. Learning about saints and other heroes of faith<\/li>\n
  7. Praying the rosary<\/li>\n
  8. Participating in the Stations of the Cross<\/li>\n
  9. Spiritual retreats<\/li>\n
  10. Celebrating the true meaning of Christmas<\/li>\n
  11. Reading scripture regularly<\/li>\n
  12. Praying with the entire school when disasters or tragedies occur<\/li>\n
  13. Celebrating All Saints Day instead of Halloween<\/li>\n
  14. No school on Easter Monday!<\/li>\n
  15. Learning responsibility for their own education by fund raising<\/li>\n
  16. Learning the connection between faith and reason<\/li>\n
  17. Being able to talk to a teacher about religion<\/li>\n
  18. Sharing faith journeys with each other<\/li>\n
  19. Seeing priests on a regular basis<\/li>\n
  20. Celebrating Mary in May<\/li>\n
  21. Halls decorated with a manger during Advent and Christmas<\/li>\n
  22. Talking with friends about what to give up for Lent<\/li>\n
  23. Congratulating second graders on receiving First Communion<\/li>\n
  24. Helping Catholic Charities with service projects<\/li>\n
  25. Hearing Jesus\u2019 name regularly, and not as a swear word<\/li>\n
  26. Getting pets blessed on the feast of St. Francis<\/li>\n
  27. Getting throats blessed on the feast of St. Blase<\/li>\n
  28. Celebrating the Immaculate Conception<\/li>\n
  29. Seeing teachers at Sunday Mass<\/li>\n
  30. Connecting service with Catholic social teaching<\/li>\n
  31. Hearing a consistent pro-life message<\/li>\n
  32. Easy shopping for school clothes<\/li>\n
  33. Being able to discuss the religious symbolism in works like The Chronicles of Narnia<\/em> and The Lord of the Rings<\/em><\/li>\n
  34. St. Nicholas parties<\/li>\n
  35. Epiphany parties<\/li>\n
  36. Seeing the same friends at church that they see at school<\/li>\n
  37. Learning about liturgical colors and seasons<\/li>\n
  38. Discipline based on gospel values<\/li>\n
  39. Crucifixes on the walls<\/li>\n
  40. Statues of Mary<\/li>\n
  41. Religious-themed bulletin boards<\/li>\n
  42. Nearness to the Blessed Sacrament<\/li>\n
  43. The chance to lector at school Masses<\/li>\n
  44. The chance to serve at the altar at school Masses<\/li>\n
  45. Making rosaries during Art<\/li>\n
  46. Learning that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit<\/li>\n
  47. Hearing \u201cMake room for Jesus!\u201d at school dances<\/li>\n
  48. Seeing teachers wear religious-themed jewelry or clothing to school<\/li>\n
  49. Hearing a teacher witness to his or her faith<\/li>\n
  50. Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus at Easter<\/li>\n
  51. Religious art on the walls<\/li>\n
  52. A curriculum designed to help students grow in spirituality<\/li>\n
  53. Learning about sacred music in Choir class<\/li>\n
  54. The freedom to talk about any religion, rather than no religion<\/li>\n
  55. An atmosphere that cares more about students getting in to heaven than into Harvard<\/li>\n
  56. Spending seven hours a day in a faith community<\/li>\n
  57. Learning about all vocation options including marriage, ordained and religious life<\/li>\n
  58. Getting to listen to the Pope talk about school<\/li>\n
  59. Discussing the religious and ethical implications of stem cell research, abortion, euthanasia, and other life issues<\/li>\n
  60. Dressing up as their favorite saint for All Saints Day<\/li>\n
  61. Constant support and encouragement in their spiritual life<\/li>\n
  62. Exposure to classic spiritual works by St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, Hildegard of Bingen, etc.<\/li>\n
  63. Ash Wednesday Mass<\/li>\n
  64. Daily exposure to the Bible<\/li>\n
  65. Learning about the Catholic contribution to science through great Catholic scientists including Pasteur, Mendel, Lemaitre, Bacon, and Albertus Magnus<\/li>\n
  66. A mission to educate the whole child: spiritually, as well as academically, morally, socially and physically.<\/li>\n
  67. An outstanding academic program that helps students become their best selves<\/li>\n
  68. The freedom to talk explicitly about the creator who has endowed us with the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness<\/li>\n
  69. Learning about the redemptive value of suffering<\/li>\n
  70. Teachers who explicitly model their instruction after the great teacher, Jesus Christ<\/li>\n
  71. Celebrating St. Joseph the Worker<\/li>\n
  72. A strong intellectual history whose tradition of academic excellence is unmatched by any other organization that has ever been<\/li>\n
  73. The development of a Catholic world view<\/li>\n
  74. A natural integration with all aspects of family life, rather than a compartmentalized existence<\/li>\n
  75. Moral development based on gospel values<\/li>\n
  76. An antidote for the surrounding culture\u2019s materialistic, image-centric distortions of reality<\/li>\n
  77. Discovering what it means to live a \u201cChrist-centered\u201d way of life<\/li>\n
  78. Learning the meaning of life in its fullness<\/li>\n
  79. Coming to understand that at the heart of every subject is Jesus, \u201cthe way, the truth and the life\u201d<\/li>\n
  80. Learning to recognize the voice of God in all creation<\/li>\n
  81. Learning to be a living witness to God\u2019s love<\/li>\n
  82. Being constantly reminded that God loves them<\/li>\n
  83. Parent Nights that begin with prayer<\/li>\n
  84. Hearing prayers at 8th grade graduation<\/li>\n
  85. Mass to begin the year<\/li>\n
  86. Mass to end the year<\/li>\n
  87. Field trips to convents and seminaries<\/li>\n
  88. Learning about the connection between faith and service to the poor and underprivileged<\/li>\n
  89. Field trips to nursing homes to sing Christmas carols<\/li>\n
  90. Classrooms visits by priests, deacons and women religious<\/li>\n
  91. Learning different ways to pray<\/li>\n
  92. Awards assemblies that begin with prayer<\/li>\n
  93. Sports leagues that begin each game with prayer<\/li>\n
  94. Student council meetings that begin with prayer<\/li>\n
  95. Becoming comfortable talking about God and faith with peers<\/li>\n
  96. Spending more hours a day in a room with a crucifix than in a room with a television<\/li>\n
  97. Learning the history of the Catholic Church<\/li>\n
  98. Acquiring the skills to spread the good news to all corners of the world<\/li>\n
  99. Opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration<\/li>\n
  100. Learning about the only thing that really matters: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, lived out in a community of faith guided by the Holy Spirit, in order to more deeply and devoutly follow will of the Father<\/li>\n
  101. Catholic Schools Week!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    With Catholic Schools Week 2011 nearly upon us, Catholic schools all over the country are about to celebrate the gift of Catholic education. My own involvement in Catholic education has been a blessing I could never repay. From first grade through high school, from undergraduate to graduate school, I spent nineteen years as a student … <\/p>\n

    Continue reading “101 Reasons to Send Your Child to a Catholic School”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[90],"class_list":["post-2363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-catholic-schools-week"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Classroom.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/prZ8V-C7","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2363"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2386,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions\/2386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}