This week is Catholic Schools Week in Boise and across the
United States. It is a time to celebrate
and appreciate the opportunity to attend a Catholic school. Catholic schools have a long and interesting
history in our country. Almost
simultaneously Catholic schools originated from Franciscan missionaries in
Florida and Jesuit in the middle colonies.
As the United States progressed from colonies to states, the school’s
needs and objectives evolved.
In the years following the American Revolution, the country,
being predominantly Protestant, structured the schooling and curriculum on the
teachings of the Protestant Church. This
was at times done at the expense of the Catholic children looking for and
education. In response to the threats of
prejudice, Catholic Church leaders decided to start their own schools to ensure
a proper education founded in the beliefs of Catholics.
Between the 1830s and the 1960s, the number of schools and
students increased. By around 1965
Catholic schools in America reached its all time high with more than 12,000
parochial schools. In addition, close to
50% of all Catholic children attended a Catholic School. In 2006, the number of schools is about half
of that and the percentage of Catholic children attending Catholic schools is
closer to 15%. Although this may seem
like a significant drop, about 40% of all Catholic schools have a waiting list
for incoming students and the needs in suburban areas continues to be high.
In Boise, we are truly blessed to have 4 parochial schools
and a Catholic high school. It seems
appropriate this year’s theme for Catholic Schools Week is “Faith, Academics,
Service”. We are lucky to be part of a
school which embraces our faith as we establish high academic standards and
promote a community focused on providing service to others.
What do you think about your Catholic education? What would or do you say to people about St.
Joe’s? What are your favorite things
about the school? What would you like to
see changed or improved on in the future?
i did not know Catholic schools week are in other states other than Idaho like florida like thats pretty cool and one of my favorite things in school is recess and literature and P.E.
ReplyDeleteAustin- I think my catholic education is great. I feel like I get alot more learning done at a catholic school. I also feel like I am prepared for what can come in the future. I would tell people that St. Joes is a great school and you get a great education. My favorite thing about the school are all the nice teachers. I think it would be awesome for sixth graders to get to choose electives.
ReplyDeleteJack- A Catholic education is the best education you can get. The best things about Catholic schools that are not in public schools is a religion class. In religion you learn of what mosses did to a million Hebrews. My favorite thing about school is P.E and art. What i would like to see in the future.
ReplyDeleteClaire- I think my Catholic education is awesome because I get religion class. Public schools don't get that privilege. At Catholic schools, you can also volunteer for more things like alter serving, or participating in the Middle School Friendship Feast. Something I would say to people about St. Joe's is that all the kids are welcoming, and the teachers are really nice. Some of my favorite things about St. Joe's is that you get to change classes in middle school, and you get more options in middle school. Something I would like to see changed or improved on in the future would be to let sixth graders do more things that the seventh and eighth graders get to do like go to dances or, like Austin said, choose electives.
ReplyDeleteGrace- I love my Catholic education. I'm so happy and blessed to be able to learn and study in religion about Jesus, God and religious history. I would say that people at St.Joe's are kind, thoughtful, smart, athletic and eager to participate and learn. My favorite things about St.Joe's are being able to celebrate and party on holidays, dressing up on special occasions (such as Catholic School's week), getting some days off, and knowing that the teachers will do anything to prepare their students and help them feel comfortable and happy at school. In the future I would like to see more people dress up for the dress up days and to participate in more activities.
ReplyDeletewelles- i love my Catholic education. i am so happy that i go to St. Joes. we get to learn things that at other schools you don't. the people at St. Joe's are really nice and good people! i have lots of good friends. my favorite thing about school is al the really nice teachers and students. something that i would change would be that 6 th gets to have electives.
ReplyDeleteKylee-I love that I go to a catholic school and I think it is important that we have catholic schools.I would say that st.joes has a lot of nice people . A couple things I would change about st. Joes would be like Welles said that 6th grade has electives.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth- I think that Catholic schools are a good way to learn more about our faith. Also we have not as big class sizes as the public schools. To tell people about St Joes I would say that it is a great school and has loving staff members and students. St Joes is a new and very old school that has tons of history. It has alot of technolgy and newer programs. I love how St Joes has alot of diffrent things that you could do and I also love having such a wonderful school in life. Its like a home with tons of family members. In are school I would like grass on the pavment because when you fall on our playground it really hurts and when you fall on grass it donsen't hurt as much.
ReplyDeleteI think that my Catholic education is a great experience, my teachers are the best and they are all I could have wished for. My classmates are nice and school is good. What I would do to the people at St. Joes is to lighten up a little and just enjoy the fact that I go to a catholic school. Sometimes we get caught up in the rituals and rules of the Catholic Church and I think that we need to realize the rules and rituals don’t make you a good person of a bad one. I am not saying that the rules are not important, but we cannot let our faith be shaped by rules. Some of my favorite things at St. Joes are Physical Education, Health, and Social Studies. Many of my teachers are very excellent, but they didn’t teach my favorite subjects. I think that St. Joes is a very good school and I would like to see more people applying for Catholic Schools and St. Josephs School is a good school.
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DeleteGraci- I think my Catholic education is great because we get to learn more about our faith and religion. I would say to people about St. Joe's is we get a great education and we are well prepared for the next grade ahead of us. My favorite things about St. Joes are Reading, Art and P.E. because they are fun classes. What I would like to see changed is the sixth graders at St. Joes being able to pick an elective.
ReplyDeleteMadeline- Catholic education is a blessing. To be able to go to a school where you can talk about your beliefs and values, and to be able to do it freely is truly a gift. What I say about St. Joe’s is that it is a great school that really helps you to learn. It has great teachers that help you do that. It also gets you ready for high school and for the rest of your life. My favorite things about the school are that we have a science lab and that we have a big gym that we can play in. I see nothing that should be changed about St. Joe’s.
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ReplyDeleteRobert Fritz- I think that my catholic education is well provided but could use more advanced classes for more hard working students. I would tell people that St.Joe's is a great way to be ready for high school but could use more people that can think about what is best for the students because one time in 5th grade i asked Mrs.Bicandi why we couldn't run on the other side of the playground and she said because more people will run into each other so I told her that if we had more running space we wouldn't run into each other. She obviously did not care about the subject and said lets just not have any running at all then and slammed the door in my face. The point is that we really just need a new principle that acually cares for all the students like they do at Colister Elementary. My favorite thing about the school are the teachers because they can make learning fun. I would like to see the amount of advanced classes and electives changed because I think that if kids want to get a better education hen they can and more electives because i feel that students should be able to do more stuff that they want to try.
ReplyDeleteEmile-I think that my catholic education is good right now but i think we need to make more foundations for people to get a hold on the teachings of religion. I would say that the people and staff of St Joe's are great but people i feel need to be more aware of our surroundings and think better of each other. I would say since i want to be an archeologists i would pick Social Studies. i think that we could improve on getting everyone to dress up for all saints day.
ReplyDeleteCharlie- I think that I am blessed to have a catholic education and I think it is well provided and well reached. I would say to the people at St. Joe's are doing a good job in keeping us safe. I agree with Kylee, in that we should have electives and a lot more time at break and at recess.
ReplyDeleteI think my Catholic education is really good. It was definitely harder than my last school and it took a while to adjust. My favorite things are P.E. and Art. I love running around but I also find art as a good stress reliever. I think it would be cool to have fun activities during like Halloween and stuff after school or something.
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ReplyDeleteHenry-I think that my catholic education s awesome. I would thank the people of St. Joe's staff. What I love about St. Joe's is that we al get together as one school at certain assemblies. THe only thing that I would change in the future is grass on the playground, but nothing else.
ReplyDeleteMargaret- I think that my cathlic education is amazing. I say that st joes is a wonderful school and has great tachers and students. My favorite thing about this school is that everyione treats eachotehr like family and we all try to treat others the way we would want to be treated. I think that st joes can improve on addressing bulling but i think that st joes is great.
ReplyDeletesorry the first comment was mine mr. grant ben
ReplyDeletemckai- I think my catholic school education is way better than my old public school edecation and i value it more here than I did any where else. I think the kids and teachers are a lot nicer the the kids and teachers at public school. My favorite thing about the school is the teachers they are always nice and caring to every one. I would like to see all the teacher have a computer cart in every room I would also like to see a robot ho the teachers can type in the robot to do what they want it to do like grade papers and go to the co-op to get coffee or food.
ReplyDeletevictoria- i love having a catholic education!!! I think that the teachers at st.joes are amazing and so are all of the kids. My favorite thing about our school is that the teachers care so much about our success. I think that we should have a grass playground but other than that i love st Joes.
ReplyDeletevictoria- i love my catholic education!!!!!!! st.joes is an amazing school where the teachers care so much about our success. I love how kind everyone at our school is and how they are always willing to help others. i think that we should have grassy playgrounds but other than that i love st.joes.
ReplyDeleteI think my Catholic education is amazing and that I'm very lucky to have it. I would tell everyone that ST. Joe's gives you great opportunities and is an incredible school. My favorite thing about school is how we have extra classes that most schools can't afford to have or keep. I think that we should be able to choose electives in sixth grade.
ReplyDeleteThat comment was Emily
DeleteMackenzie- I think that it is very important for a catholic child to attend a catholic school and learn more about his or her faith and values. I would say that St. Joe's is an amazing environment to learn and grow in. Being at ST. Joe's since Kindergarten I can say that this school will go in my memory as a great school. I love how we are so connected as a family and as a school. I also love all the fun things we do as a school from fun raises to decorating the halls with art we are such a great community. I think that we should have at least one free dress day every week.
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