Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Drumroll Please

"Drum roll please, Mommy," PB commanded today as he... took cards out of a box.
Not sure that was worthy of a drum roll, but it made me laugh, as I have no idea where he got it.

But I think a drum roll could be in order as I tell you about the school I visited (and liked!) today. It was a .......................................................

drumroll ......................................................................................................................................................................

Catholic school!

After suffering through 12 years of mediocre education in Catholic schools, I would have punched you in the face (stealing from that song) if you had said I would ever send my children to one. Not because I have anything against the Catholic part--I'm a regular mass goer and all--but because frankly I thought the education I got sucked. Okay, it didn't suck, but it really was not good. And I think I had a lot of potential that was seriously overlooked.

Now I say this to my mother and her response to me is--"look how well you all turned out". And yes, my brother is a brilliant law professor and yes my sister is at Harvard Law School and yes, we all have done some cool things BUT think of how much better we could have done if we had gone to actual good schools.

I swear I would have a singing career right now if the only music I'd ever been exposed to before high school hadn't been from Sister Roseanne--a tone deaf nun with a bell who only knew the song "Polly Wolly Doodle". Or I could very well have been a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader if they hadn't squashed my dreams and made me draw myself as a nun instead during vocations week.

Most of my (underpaid) teachers were dull and unimaginative. We lacked extracurricular activities. I was green with envy listening to the amazing things my friends in public schools got to do. But to my parents, our eternal souls were much more important than where we would go to college, so in Catholic schools we all stayed. (In high school I did plead my case and escape to public school for about a year--but that's another story for another time.)

So now as I try to make the momentous decision of where to send my son next year--for Pre-K and then beyond--I've been making the rounds of all the Orlando-area schools, doing my research. And to be fair, I put the Catholic school of the parish we plan to join on the list. I figured I'd do my due diligence, be able to tell my mother that while it was a nice school, I didn't feel it was the best fit for PB, blah, blah, blah.

But you know what? It might be the best fit. I loved it! I loved the principal who spent an hour with me. I loved the teachers and parents I met and the adorable children in all their little plaid uniforms. I love their philosophies, the charity work the children do and the general familial environment. Academically, they rock and they have a great extracurricular activities to boot. And bonus of all bonus, it's much cheaper than the other private schools I've visited.

So I'm thrilled...and a little surprised at how much I liked it there. How right it felt. I still have more touring to do--including an open house on Sunday for one of the area's fanciest schools. But I'm feeling good about the options I've found.

1 comment:

Wes said...

I spent 12 years in catholic schools, and I would take that education over a public education in any state in the south in a heart beat! Those teachers take those underpaid jobs because of the quality of the kids, the parents, and the community.