Catholic school for high school level may be a good choice. Even though they have a graded curriculum for religion, I think that really gives them good exposure to the world in general. Reflection essays are good practice for college write ups. It will be good if religion is considered for electives but otherwise no issues even for non catholics, non christians.
School drill down on hard work and homework, study habits. I think they are overly strict.. but actually saw during the school year that it really pays off when I saw huge improvement in my child's grades.
As for the Education level, they offer challenging classes to the good level and selection criteria is not bad. But at the same time do not hinder advancement from elsewhere if student wants to move ahead unlike other public schools.
Stress factor due to competition is very minimum in catholic schools. This factor is major issue in some public schools in Bay area. This was one other factor for my decision also, since my child has never been in a public envioronment in early grades.

One thing I would consider is that many catholic schools are K-8 which is a big advantage over having the elementary to middle to high school transitions. Many children have trouble in the transitions and that seems to me to be where manya are "lost". I went to 12 years of catholoic schools in the "bad old days" and looking back realize it was a great experience. It was strict but I have great school habits and have been able to teach my children some great study habits. If you are catholic, then I would seriously consider it.

"The public school is working out for us but I can say you have a mix of kids with lower morals"
Unfortuantely, this is found in the catholic schools also. You would have to be pretty ignorant to think otherwise. If your environment is predominantly lower income, there will, of course be children with lesser morals BUT, that could also be said in well off neighborhoods where children seek out any attention they can because of parents that are career oriented, or socially engaged, never home. Your decision should be based on YOUR need for religeon in your children. If you feel strongly about this, send them to catholic school.If the education is sub par, send them to a public school and perhaps sign your child up for youth group. Your children will not be better people for having attended either school.Both are attended by children whose parents love and want the best for them.(Unfortunately if you are in an area where the economics are poor, both schools may be hurting) So I guess to me its black or white. Don't do it to keep up with the jones, do what's best for your child.

I dont think it should be a choice between catholic or public but more about which school would be better for your children. Just like not every public school is good the same goes for any school. I would tour the schools your looking into both public and private. See which school has more of what your looking for. Private you will have weekly mass, uniforms and usually less kids to socialize with. We did both> We pulled my oldest out of public for MS and brought my younger to catholic. things were great. My oldest is still friends with her catholic school friends. They have better morals at least the group she was with:) We sent her back to public for HS(we couldnt afford the tuition) and we then put my younger who was in 6th back in public. They had a principle change so it wasnt working. The catholic school we were in had 2 classes per grade so at least they had more friends. The public school is working out for us but I can say you have a mix of kids with lower morals

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention that as far as curriculum goes, at the catholic school my kids attend, they have art, music, computer, library, and Spanish or Italian once a week. They have PE twice a week. No public school around here offers that diversity of classes"

I think this depends on your area.We have all of the above and a science lab.In fact I have never heard of a public school who did not teach those classes. And as for the poster's who think that public schools do not teach morality or discipline, that is another huge misconception, as that is certainly not true. My goodness! We would have a country of animals, if this were true!! LOL! Morality starts in the home. You stated your kids are already going to the public school, so your either not happy with the curriculum, the teachers, or what? The class of students?? Need more religeon? Because odds are you will see the same type of students in your local catholic school as your public. If your public school has low funds, and it shows, so will your catholic school. Many children who do not make it in public schools are sent to catholic school per voucher. So do alot of research! The only difference between the two school's is one has a religious class and the other never will.

I would choose Catholic if you are able to do it. The curriculum is engaging and also portable in most cases. I know in my case we moved frequently, living in the US and in Europe and I always attended catholic schools, having no trouble with the curriculum.

An important thing to consider is the values-based education. You will not get that in a public school. It is integrated throughout the curriculum and really helps the children to mature spiritually and ethically.

Also, public and catholic schools are apples and oranges. Their standardized testing is different and done for different reasons and of course catholic schools are smaller and may not have the variety of programs that some public schools have. On the other hand, there is a rich legacy of success stories from catholic schools spanning decades. For example, my father came from a poor Irish working class family, growing up during the depression. He and his brothers and sister attended catholic schools throughout their education. He received a Ph.D by the time he was 27, after serving in the army. Everyone in our family of my generation went to catholic schools. We all have professional or graduate degrees. Now the majority of our kids attend catholic schools. You will find many catholic schools have third generations attending.

One thing I noticed as I was looking for catholic schools was that some are subsidized by their church, others are not. Our school gets a great deal of assistance from the church community which makes a big difference on the quality and richness of the education experience. Good luck with your decision!

For us, Public. We do not believe in organized religeon. I would think it also depends on the type of instruction/curriculum. My girlfriend, a teacher at the public school, does believe in religeon and sent her oldest to Catholic school. Unfortunately, after the first year her daughter cried and did not want to go. It turned out she was gifted and bored.Instead of giving her challenging work, they gave her "filler" work. They switched to public school, where they went out of their way and her daughter flourished. Our middle child is gifted.We may send her to a private school when she hits the high school level.But for right now, she is enjoying her friends and her sports. Your best bet for your area is word of mouth.Talk to people.You will find the same moral at a public school as you would at a Catholic school.Yor chilren are, how you raise them! In our area, many children that are kicked out of public school, go to the Catholic school.Again, word of mouth.

The truth is that not all Catholic schools are that great and this is coming from someone who is catholic. I have two children of my own. My husband and I have struggled with the same question. We looked in to home schooling. Which I would love to do. However my health is not doing to allow me to do that. But homeschooling is another choice as well. My husband and I are going to send our daughter to a school call Providence Academy. It is a catholic school where they attend mass every day and they teach classical education. The best thing about this school is that not only do the students receive a great education but they learn about morals and values. I know for a fact that the public school do not teach morals and values that are related to God. If fact you can't even mention the word God in the classrooms. May what you need to ask yourself is what is more important to you. Education or morals and values. We have been blessed to have a school in our area that does both. If you can't find a school in your area that teaches both then maybe you could look into home schooling. This way you would be the one to give your children their education and morals in which you want them to have. Homeschooling has become very popular and there is a ton of help out there for you if you decided to go this route. I wish you the best of luck with picking a school. It is hard when we live in world where you can't get both, great education and values. The last advice I would give you would be to pray about. You know that have made a good choice when you have a since a peace about your decision.

Just like any school program, you have to carefully monitor the school to see if it's a right fit for your child & his needs. Some adapt well to the rigors of a private school; others might need the public school. I have 4 children who have been in both (though we opted out of Catholic school for one of them & put him in a Lutheran parochial school). I think the curriculum is emphasized more in Catholic/Lutheran school but the level of educators might not be great. Public school will emphasize the annual assessment testing (TAKS in TX). Educators I think are better trained in public but the curriculum is poor. I did not find smaller classroom size in Catholic v public (though it is in Lutheran) - but the overall school size does show the difference. I think teachers care more about student in Catholic/Lutheran school. I think parents are included in co-educating the child & is part of a community. Like all schools there can be parent cliques but parent cliques are worst in public school. I do like the including religion in my child's education and sadly public school is too politically correct (in TX they've even outlawed Christmas colors @ school). I feel more connected with the teachers/parents in both Catholic/Lutheran schools.

i had my son in catholic school from pre-k until 1st grade, i believe catholic school was the worst choice i could have ever made for him, as for him being challenged that was one of the main issues when he was in catholic school,i later had him tested and found what i knew all along he's gifted he's been in public school for 2 yrs now and his school goes out of their way to accomedate his needs,not to mention he's happy. here in n.y. the classes were not that small in catholic school and the people were very clickish it seemed to be very unchristian but thats just my opinion:)

From my experience, I'd go with the Catholic school experience. Parents are far more welcome partners in the education of their children, children typically get a wide selection of challenging and engaging programs, the discipline and respect required for classroom learning is part of the expectation for every child, and, of course, your children will learn Christ-centered values. Many Catholic elementary schools are small, so every child gets a lot of attention in a warm and caring environment.

I am on the flip side of your situation. My son has been in a private catholic school for the past 2 years, and is now going to switch to a public school. The 1st thing I would suggest thinking about is what grades they will be transferring to. Academically, private schools are ahead, so if your child is struggeling in the grade he/she is currently in, you would definitely want to review the cirriculum & expectations of the catholic school. My son has been in Pre-K for the past 2 years. I have had my son evaluated by several different Pediatricians & the district, and they all say he should be in Kindergarten. I have tried working with the catholic school to give him a trial run in Kindergarten, but they will not, and now, they have told me they won't promote him next year either, so we are basically being tossed out-from our own parish! That, in itself, is disturbing as it is in complete contradiction with everything they teach, and preach about. I would suggest Kindergarten in a public school, and then move the child to private-if that is your wish. Stay away from Pre-k in private! I thought it would be good to begin my child's academic career in this setting, but the amount of pressure on these children at such a young age is rediculous. Of course, this just my opinion, my experience, and honestly, it was a REALLY bad one, lol, but could be a rareity. The bottom line is to be very careful who's expectations you try to mold your child into meeting. I placed this school & staff on a higher plain because...well, they were "church people." Bottom line is they are JUST people, and private school is a business, & just because they have the word St. somewhere in their school name does not mean they are anywhere close to living up to that expectation! I was niave in that respect, so please, go in with your eyes wide open!
Good luck to you & your family & God Bless~

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that as far as curriculum goes, at the catholic school my kids attend, they have art, music, computer, library, and Spanish or Italian once a week. They have PE twice a week. No public school around here offers that diversity of classes.

I also like that they have the flexibility to give the kids extra recess as a reward or go to the park across the street for the kids to play. I don't know if the public schools would do this now.

My kids attend a Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Washington (DC).

First, consider the cost. Most Catholic schools charge less if you are a member of the parish or at least a practicing Catholic. Also, there is usually a multiple child discount. Here, the prices only go up to 3 children and then it's the same price for any more in school at the same time. Still, sometimes I think about all the thousands of dollars we have spent on school and it only gets MUCH more expensive in high school. And tuition is not the only cost. There are other fees (books, technology, etc.), a fundraising obligation, uniforms, sports programs, etc. Not to mention the numerous donations of money or things which they consider service projects. (I have a problem with that because I don't feel the kids are learning anything about service to others by the parents buying things and sending them in!)

I love uniforms! They are the best! No arguements about what to wear in the morning and the kids can wear the same clothes for a couple of days in a row, if they don't get too dirty! (Shhh!) And it costs a bit to start but then they usually last a couple of years and can sometimes even be handed down.

Second, I like that their school is small (250 students for K-8 as opposed to roughly 400 for K-6 for public school). However, this school has only 1 class per grade so the kids don't have the experience of meeting new people every year and I worry a little how they will adapt to going to a much larger high school as well.

I think the curriculum is sometimes good and sometimes not what I think it should be but they are roughly on par or above the curriculum of the public schools here. The schools expect a lot of parent participation and involvement but offer many ways to achieve that goal.

The community feeling that you get is great. I know all of the parents of the kids in my kids' classes and many of the other ones I meet in the parking lot waiting to pick them up.

I would vote private..

gembella,
What are your expectations from a school? Do you want your kids to have religious instruction? Can you afford it? Also, what made you and your husband think of switching your children to a catholic school?
I went to visit many elementary catholic schools, most of them parrochial and a couple of them independent. I found that some catholic schools are more conservative than others, and that the parrochial ones are about the same. I want my son to go to a parrochial catholic school because I am not happy with the public school currriculum. However, it is not easy; currently, my son is on the waiting list, and if he doesn't get in by August then he will have to continue in his public shool.