Search Results for: catholic schools

Transfiguring Catholic Schools

Transfiguration Academy, a new interparochial school being formed in Bergen County NJ is well named. The word transfiguration alludes not only to the miracle cited in the synoptic gospels, but also to the changing of appearance and organization of parish schools in an area where Catholic schools have faced declining enrollment and increased costs. Three parochial schools faced with declining enrollments and threatened with closing, have combined to form the multi site academy. Pre K through 4th grade students will attend St John’s school in Bergenfield, and fifth through eighth grade students will attend Ascension school in nearby New Milford. … Continue reading →

Connecticut Schools Close for Heat

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The weather can cause quiet a strain over our lives. This uncontrollable factor seems to create our daily plans and influence our lives more than any other. In fact, the weather conditions can even be a great influencing factor when it comes to educating our school children. Schools close and cancel classes due to snow and blizzard icy conditions. They close due to tornados and storms. They close due to flooding. And now schools have closed early due to too much sunshine. Connecticut has been experiencing extreme heat conditions over the past few days. Many schools decided Monday that it … Continue reading →

Give Kids Good Schools Week

If your kids attend public school, be sure to mark your calendar for Give Kids Good Schools Week, which takes place the week of October 15-21. Head over to the Give Kids Good Schools organization’s website, where you can learn about how to insure your children receive quality public education. The organization’s goal is to get parents and the public to work for public school reform. According to the organization, 48 million children attend public schools in the U.S., and while many of these schools provide students with a quality education, many don’t equip students with the basic skills they … Continue reading →

Success in Catholic Education Breeds Success: Lourdes Academy, Miami Florida

A while back, I asked in the forum section of this site what accounts for Catholic schools closing in some areas, and thriving in others. I got a few really interesting responses. Here in the Northeast, it seems that tuition is a huge factor in declining enrollments. In areas where the public schools compare favorably, or have after school programs which meet the needs of the community, parents are more likely to send their children to the public school than to pay tuition to the Catholic school. Parents who want a religious education, or one that conforms to the values … Continue reading →

Scrapping School Events

Catholic Schools Week kicks off in just a few days. The annual week-long celebration begins Sunday and runs through February 4th. My daughter’s small Catholic elementary school will join with Catholic schools throughout the country to mark the occasion. No doubt there will be plenty of pictures taken and the construction of a scrapbook will follow. This year the national theme for Catholic Schools Week is: “Catholic Schools: An A-Plus for America.” My daughter’s school has its own theme and it will be highlighted in the memory book that will be created by the fifth grade class. Even if your … Continue reading →

Kid-Friendly Valentine’s Day Crafts

It’s Catholic Schools Week, so for the past few days I’ve been playing craft mom in my kindergartner’s classroom. Fortunately, my daughter’s teacher came up with most of the projects the kids put together. Still, getting 20 kids to stay on task with glue and scissors was a challenge. The class had a blast making a variety of art projects incorporating the Catholic Schools Week theme. However, the one craft they really got excited about creating was a holder for their Valentine’s Day cards. One was a shoebox decorated with stickers, glitter glue, paper hearts, heart-shaped candies, ribbons and stamps. … Continue reading →

Parents as Fashion Police

From the pool… back to school. Summer is rapidly coming to an end (sigh) and soon parents will be less worried about whether their daughter’s swimsuits are too tight and more concerned about whether their son’s pants are too baggy. Right now many of us are smack in the middle of that dreaded annual ritual—back to school shopping. Besides gathering the right shopping lists for each child and calculating how our household budgets will accommodate new pens, pencils, backpacks, socks, shoes, pants, tops and haircuts most parents are faced with the additional role of acting as fashion police. Who among … Continue reading →

Why I Support School Choice Part 2

Yesterday I began to talk about school choice and various arguments for and against it. To quickly recap–I am in favor of school choice because I think it helps improve schools over all. Let’s keep looking at some more arguments. Tax funded vouchers would increase divisions between rich and poor, between different religions, and between different ethnic groups. I’m not sure how vouchers would increase division beyond what is already there. Furthermore, as I’ve previously pointed out, public school funding is not the issue when it comes to a good education. It should also be noted that school choice allows … Continue reading →

Full Day Kindergarten

Full day kindergarten programs appear to be less unusual across the United States than they have been in the past. More than 61% of the schools that offer Kindergarten programs have at least one full day class. It appears that a higher percentage of Catholic schools offer full day kindergarten than public schools or other private schools. In 1979, only 25% of all kindergarteners were enrolled in full day program. By 2000, over 60% of all children enrolled in Kindergarten in the United State were in a full day program. Today, many children attend center based preschools, many with full … Continue reading →

Diary of a Home Business Owner

Remember that large bulk mailing I was so glad to deliver to the post office last week? Guess what? It wasn’t mailed! To make a long story short, we got a phone call from the post office on Tuesday telling us that the mailing could not be sent out due to a “technicality”. We were able to resolve the problem – eventually – but the solution involved two Sharpie pens and a few hours at my kitchen table! Needless to say, that threw a bit of a monkey wrench into my plans for the week. And, in true home business … Continue reading →