Catholic Schools Week
I was given a flier about how much the benefits Catholic schools bring to the community here in Delaware:
Savings to the Community
· Delaware spends more than $9,700 per public school student, on average
· Almost 13,000 students attend Catholic schools in Delaware (more than 1 out of ten Delaware students attend Catholic schools)
· Therefore Catholic school families save the state of Delaware at least $126,000,000 a year. (Note: That figure might be a little high. If there are 13,000 students in Delaware Catholic schools, a percentage of them are residents of other states. I was friends with Pennsylvanians, Marylanders and New Jersey-ites (?) throughout high school. But the savings to Delaware taxpayers are certainly in the 9 figures annually.) Imagine how high our school taxes would be without Catholic schools.
Quality
- All schools are accredited by Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools
- 3 National Blue Ribbon Schools
- 42% of teachers have Masters degrees
- 63% of teachers have ten or more years of experience
- Over 90% of Catholic high school graduates pursue post-secondary education
- All schools are accredited by Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools
Achievement
| Grade Equivalent Based on National Test Score | |||
| Grade 3 | Grade 5 | Grade 7 | |
| Reading Composite | 5.5 | 9.7 | 11.0 |
| Language Composite | 6.8 | 10.3 | 12.6 |
| Math Composite | 4.7 | 7.0 | 10.3 |
| Science | 5.0 | 7.5 | 10.8 |
| Social Studies | 5.6 | 7.4 | 11.5 |
(A grade equivalent of 5.5 means a score that is average for a group in the fifth month of grade 5. So, Catholic School 3rd graders are reading at the level of someone in the fifth month of the fifth grade, while seventh graders are at the level of a high school junior.)
Source: Delaware Alliance of Catholic School Parents
Now, one obvious response to the above achievement is the issue of student selection. Public schools have to take everyone which private schools can take who they choose. While that's true in theory, in practice it's not so true. For example, my parish school, St. Ann's Elementary, is slightly under capacity and could take more students if more applied. I was told my senior year at Salesianum that in the four years I was there, we had turned down a total of two students, and they tested as legitimately retarded and therefore needed special schooling. And from personal observation, I attended school with people who would not have been admitted in a truly competitive environment.
None of the above benefits include perhaps the most important element of education: forming whole persons, those who are good people. Learning proper values and a sense of responsibility are at the center of every school experience. I was thinking this past week that for all the importance and focus given to the three R's (reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic), there two even more R's we need to teach our children: right and 'rong. Those R's are at the center of every Catholic education.
So, when considering where to send your children to school, take a look at Catholic schools, where they get a thorough education in the things that truly matter.