MSP Catholic schools (Robbinsdale, Sacred Heart: suburban, teachers, kids)

[greenzebra]

Carondelet is in SW Minneapolis split between 2 campuses; K-2 in Linden Hills and 3-8 in Fulton. Thank you for responding about the St. Paul schools.

[yoyoma02]

I went to Our Lady of Peace and it was solid. Good teachers and quality of education.

I wen to Academy of Holy Angels for High School it was excellent. I am one of the few that really, really enjoyed high school.

[Fehler]

My kids attend Risen Christ, at 37th Street East and 11th Ave South. Very reasonably priced, the teachers care about the students and their education. It doesn't offer a lot in the way of extras, though.

[Family of five]

We are a Nativity family and love it. We know families at Highland Catholic, St. Thomas More, Holy Spirit, and St. Marks (all the schools in this little area of St. Paul). Holy Spirit is probably the smallest, then St. Marks, then St. Thomas More, then Highland Catholic, then Nativity. I know a bit about the other schools:

St. Thomas More is a Jesuit parish, so a bit more liberal; the school is in a more diverse neighborhood and the school is more diverse than the others. The church is beautiful - it was originally going to be the cathedral before the cathedral was built.

Holy Spirit is next to the co-ed Catholic High School (Cretin-Derham Hall) and the only one of the schools that has actual fields.

Highland Catholic uses the Hillcrest Recreation Center fields and playground adjacent to the school; Highland Catholic seems to have a larger percentage of non-Catholic students and sacramental preparation is not done during the school day - students attend Religious Education classes outside of school to prepare for the sacraments. It is on a busy corner with lots of retail. The church is more modern (circular).

Nativity is a more traditional, conservative parish; the school is large - nearly 800 kids with 4 sections of each grade (the other schools have 2 at most), which provides a great deal of resources. The hard part about Nativity is the getting in part - they accept 99 Kindergartners each year and there is a waiting list every year. Siblings are admitted first (and there can be any number each year - 50-75 the past few years), then students are admitted based on how many years you've been a parishioner. The students have recess on the playground - no green space (St. Thomas More and St. Marks are similar - no green space).

You won't have any trouble getting into any school except possibly Nativity - no waiting lists at any of the other schools.

I tried to keep this brief - I am not sure what factors are important to you so please let me know if there are specific things you'd like to know. I'll be happy to help you!

[greenzebra]

Thank you Fehler for your response. I didn't know about Risen Christ. Always good to have lots of options.

Family of Five: Thank you! This is exactly the information I was looking for with regard to the St. Paul schools. My husband was particularly concerned about waiting lists as we would be applying from out of state and not arriving in MN until August 2013. Here in DC, if you aren't a sibling applicant or haven't been in the parish for several years, you can pretty much forget about finding a spot in many of the schools. Do you know if the same holds true for first grade? We'd have one going into kindergarten and one going into first.

I wondered if you could tell me about parent involvement. It sounds as if it would be high at Nativity. Do you know about involvement at any of the other schools you listed? Also, most of the schools seem to offer Spanish, music, and art. Are these thorough enrichment classes or are they more fluff/filler type classes?

Last question (sorry to have so many). I saw on Highland's website the publisher they use for the math curriculum is Houghton Mifflin. Often times, Archdiocesan schools have similar core curriculum texts. If you don't mind my asking, what particular text do they use at Nativity? Houghton Mifflin publishes several different ones.

Thank you again for your reply. I really appreciated the information.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by greenzebra

Thank you Fehler for your response. I didn't know about Risen Christ. Always good to have lots of options.

Family of Five: Thank you! This is exactly the information I was looking for with regard to the St. Paul schools. My husband was particularly concerned about waiting lists as we would be applying from out of state and not arriving in MN until August 2013. Here in DC, if you aren't a sibling applicant or haven't been in the parish for several years, you can pretty much forget about finding a spot in many of the schools. Do you know if the same holds true for first grade? We'd have one going into kindergarten and one going into first.

I wondered if you could tell me about parent involvement. It sounds as if it would be high at Nativity. Do you know about involvement at any of the other schools you listed? Also, most of the schools seem to offer Spanish, music, and art. Are these thorough enrichment classes or are they more fluff/filler type classes?

Last question (sorry to have so many). I saw on Highland's website the publisher they use for the math curriculum is Houghton Mifflin. Often times, Archdiocesan schools have similar core curriculum texts. If you don't mind my asking, what particular text do they use at Nativity? Houghton Mifflin publishes several different ones.

Thank you again for your reply. I really appreciated the information.

You rarely see waiting lists at private schools here because the public schools are so good. I can certainly see why it would be a major concern in DC. Typically people choose Catholic schools for the religious aspect and not so much because they are better schools, often they aren't as good as the local publics, but in Minneapolis and St. Paul, they will be better choices than the publics.

[Family of five]

Let me try to answer your questions:

Getting in: One family I know moved here from Chicago, did not get in to Nativity in K, went to public for K, and then got in in 1st grade. They knew they wanted Nativity over the other schools and bought a house a couple of blocks from Nativity. They were really disappointed, but not surprised, to not get in at first, but they perservered and could not be happier. They have two younger kids who of course now have sibling preference. So at least in this example, it was easier to get in in first grade. There are always a few K familes each year who move, and most other families decide to stick with their second choice school. One of my kids will be in 1st grade this year and I know at least one child in her K class won't be returning. Registration for this years K class happened already, so for K you'll probably be automatically on the waiting list. I'd do it - you never know what other families are going to do.

Parent involvement: This will be very high at all of these schools. These neighborhoods (Highland Park, Mac/Groveland, Merriam Park) are full of highly educated professionals who are invested in their children's education. I honestly don't know one mom at Nativity who doesn't have at least a 4 year degree. I think it will be similar at the other schools, given the demographics of the neighborhoods.

Spanish: I believe that all of the schools except Nativity have Spanish K-8 as part of the regular curriculum. Nativity has Spanish K-5 more as enrichment - the younger kids have 6 weeks of Spanish instruction a year, then it becomes a regular part of the curriculum in 6th grade. Your kids would have the least Spanish instruction at Nativity.

Music and Art: My kids have art for half the year, and then my more artistic child takes the art enrichment classes that the art teacher offers in the summer. I think formal music class is half the year, too, but there is a lot of music education woven through the whole year. Art and music at Nativity are wonderful - the art room is phenomenal.

Math: The text at Nativity is MacMillan McGraw Hill's Math Connects.

I know that there is a lot that goes into this decison! Keep asking questions as they come up - I am happy to help. Of course I think that Nativity is the most incredible school, but I know it can be a challenge to get into. We are transplants from PA, but we were members at Nativity for a couple of years before our oldest started K. I was on pins and needles, but it turns out that his class had fewer siblings so we got in. A good friend of mine here moved from LA last year and her son just got into Nativity for this fall's K class, and she will tell you that she wept when they found out they got in - that's how good the school is. They also bought a house a couple of blocks from Nativity, knowing that was the school they wanted.

All that being said, though, if you talk to parents from the other schools I am sure that they would have rave reviews, also! I am 100% biased towards ours. I know that the other schools are really good, though. Personally, my last choice would be Highland Catholic because they don't do sacramental prep during the school day. My oldest's First Communion was honestly one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed - those kids prepared with their classmates daily and it showed.

Oh - one con of Carondelet for me is the split campus. I taught at a K-8 Catholic school with a split campus and it didn't have as cohesive a culture.

I hope I answered your questions!



Family of Five: Thank you! This is exactly the information I was looking for with regard to the St. Paul schools. My husband was particularly concerned about waiting lists as we would be applying from out of state and not arriving in MN until August 2013. Here in DC, if you aren't a sibling applicant or haven't been in the parish for several years, you can pretty much forget about finding a spot in many of the schools. Do you know if the same holds true for first grade? We'd have one going into kindergarten and one going into first.

I wondered if you could tell me about parent involvement. It sounds as if it would be high at Nativity. Do you know about involvement at any of the other schools you listed? Also, most of the schools seem to offer Spanish, music, and art. Are these thorough enrichment classes or are they more fluff/filler type classes?

Last question (sorry to have so many). I saw on Highland's website the publisher they use for the math curriculum is Houghton Mifflin. Often times, Archdiocesan schools have similar core curriculum texts. If you don't mind my asking, what particular text do they use at Nativity? Houghton Mifflin publishes several different ones.

Thank you again for your reply. I really appreciated the information.[/quote]

[greenzebra]

Wow! Thank you Family of Five. It's hard to be navigating this from a distance, but your replies have been so helpful. Nativity sounds like a really tight knit community. That's certainly something we're looking for in a school. I'm so pleased we have an abundance of options from which to choose. I suppose it will come down to visiting and seeing which is a good fit for our family. Thank you again.

[Family of five]

greenzebra, I am glad I could help!

A couple of corrections/additions - at Nativity they do have music as a regular class all year long, plus the kids in grades 1-4 participate in a singing concert each year. Art is half the year, and the half of the year that they don't have Art, they have Art Adventure. Art Adventure is a program with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. A parent volunteer comes in and teaches a few classes on different art pieces, and then the class takes a field trip to MIA to see the pieces.

[PullMyFinger]

Originally Posted by greenzebra

Does anyone have any experience with the Catholic K-8 schools in either Minneapolis or St. Paul? My husband is interviewing for a job that would put us in the area next summer. Public school seems to be the most common choice so I'm not finding a lot of info on Catholic schools when searching the forum. I have seen the reviews on greatschools but not many are from the last year or two. Obviously we'd be visiting before settling on a school. I was just hoping someone on the board could provide some perspective, especially where curriculum and community environment are concerned. TIA!

If you move to Woodbury they have the #1 and #2 rated high schools in the state in East Ridge and Woodbury High School.

Public schools--tuition included in your property taxes