The Boston Globe profiles several local Catholic high schools that have undergone major renovations in order to appeal to families and reverse trends toward declining enrollment. Amidst the talk of plasma screen TVs and food courts, can you find what isn’t mentioned by the reporter or school representatives?
Could it be, say, anything to do with the reason the schools are called “Catholic”? The closest we get is the administrator of St. John’s Prep in Danvers saying: “The quality of the facilities reflects the quality of academics, the quality of spiritual life.”
(To be fair, all we have is what the reporter chose to include in the story. Perhaps the school officials did mention it; we don’t know.)
Of course, the quality of education at that secular school with a Catholic name (Saint John’s Prep)includes something that would shock many parents: A Gay Student’s Association.
Next time you’re on campus there, check out the Peace Labyrinth. It includes religious symbols from many different religions … including a pentagram for the pagans. Designed and built as a gift from the 1995 Senior class.
Renee: I think you will find 25-33% of the student body to be non-Catholic. My guess from when my son went there (SJP ‘04) is that the student 1/4 of the school is Jewish.
The $ speaks louder than the cross, there, I’m afraid.
Note on tuition. My son’s first year at the Prep (academic year ‘01-02), the tuition was $7,500 per year. Since then, it has gone up an average of $1,500 per year. So much for an institution started by the Xaverian Brothers to provide a first rate education for the poor Catholic youth.
I think we need to ask the basic question, Do we still need Catholic schools at all? They can be justified as an act of charity for the poor. For typical suburbia, the resources would be better spent on quality catechesis for all of our Catholic youth and their parents too!
The academics are top-notch, athletics are top-notch, the facilities are top-notch, the networking is top-notch (many alumni are very successful). To them it’s like Andover or Thayer or any other private prep school.
My SJP son received a scholarship to Suffolk U. DURING his interview. The recruiter filled in his name and ammount. He got into Merrimack, and they just forked over the money.
These schools are REALLY CONNECTED. 10% of the graduating class of SJP goes to BC. 12 into Harvard every year, lot’s of Ivy League schools, mini-ivy’s Bowdoin, Colby, etc.. Scholarships galore!
These are institutions which put you on the fast track to secular success.
Renee, if you want the real scoop, talk to the youth director at OLOH in Ipswich, she used to teach religion at SJP.