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Generally speaking, Catholic schools can't provide for kids with learning disabilities.
I'm very experienced with Catholic schools, and I can't recall a case where a kid in need of help did not receive it. But--and this is an arguable point, and depends on the individual school--public schools often create a culture where the child is no longer responsible for himself/herself and lacks his or her own initiative.
I respect those who disagree with this, but I assert the lion share of those who pay for Catholic school essentially agree with me.
I don't know much about St. Anthony's but when you have a bunch of classmates that live in Suffolk that turned down admittance to St. Dom's & St. Anthony's to come to Kellenberg, that tells you something right there...As a matter of fact, I knew a couple of kids that were kicked out of Kellenberg for bad conduct and ended up going to St. Dom's and St. Anthony's as last resort so their parents didn't have to put them in public school. It's definitely a "second choice" school.
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Generally speaking, Catholic schools can't provide for kids with learning disabilities.
I'm very experienced with Catholic schools, and I can't recall a case where a kid in need of help did not receive it. But--and this is an arguable point, and depends on the individual school--public schools often create a culture where the child is no longer responsible for himself/herself and lacks his or her own initiative.
I respect those who disagree with this, but I assert the lion share of those who pay for Catholic school essentially agree with me.
The Catholic schools don't provide the extra help on a consistent enough basis to truly help a child who is having a problem in a subject.
Public schools have academic intervention, resource rooms, special education classes, after school homework help, etc etc etc. These services do NOT create an environment where the child is no longer responsible for his/herself nor does it create a "lack of initiative". That is absurd and just Catholic School propoganda (you know how they love to tell you how much better the CS is going than PS. LOL!)
I have personally known children in academic intervention or resource room. These kids just didn't have the math or reading stuff down and needed help. Guess what? They got the help they needed, were responsible for homework from these classes, as well as independent projects and reports. They have since moved on to regular classes and are now Honor Roll students.
On the other hand, I have also known Catholic School children whose parents pulled them out of CS and tested 1 1/2 to 2 years BEHIND public school students.
The Catholic schools don't provide the extra help on a consistent enough basis to truly help a child who is having a problem in a subject.
Public schools have academic intervention, resource rooms, special education classes, after school homework help, etc etc etc. These services do NOT create an environment where the child is no longer responsible for his/herself nor does it create a "lack of initiative". That is absurd and just Catholic School propoganda (you know how they love to tell you how much better the CS is going than PS. LOL!)
I have personally known children in academic intervention or resource room. These kids just didn't have the math or reading stuff down and needed help. Guess what? They got the help they needed, were responsible for homework from these classes, as well as independent projects and reports. They have since moved on to regular classes and are now Honor Roll students.
On the other hand, I have also known Catholic School children whose parents pulled them out of CS and tested 1 1/2 to 2 years BEHIND public school students.
Go figure.
Not all Catholic schools are created equal and not all public schools are created equal. I'll take the worst Catholic School over the worst public school AND the best Catholic School over the best public school any day of the week. Many of us understand and value the benefits of a Catholic education.
Also, for the record, I agree with Wes' stance that public education creates an "everybody wins, nobody loses" coddling environment. It's one thing to help a child with a legitimate need, it's another to pander to a child's every whim. College adminsitrators understand this best - all of the college adminstrators I know say kids these days are having a more difficult time adjusting, except for Catholic school kids. Anecdotal, but this is what I hear nevertheless.
St. Anthony's is not a "last resort school" but it also is no longer head and shoulders above Kellenberg. I'd say they are close to if not equal at this point in time. St. Dom's, Holy Trinity and St. John's are the schools of last resort.
I don't know much about St. Anthony's but when you have a bunch of classmates that live in Suffolk that turned down admittance to St. Dom's & St. Anthony's to come to Kellenberg, that tells you something right there...As a matter of fact, I knew a couple of kids that were kicked out of Kellenberg for bad conduct and ended up going to St. Dom's and St. Anthony's as last resort so their parents didn't have to put them in public school. It's definitely a "second choice" school.
I'd also like to add that it's much more appealing to colleges to come from a top, reputable school, like Kellenberg. Hofstra University (especially) and Adelphi have ties with Kellenberg and make special considerations for Kellenberg students. One of those considerations being that both schools waived the college application fees for Kellenberg students because of the curriculum we carried. At the time, I think the college essay for Adelphi was waived as well.
I attended - "NONE OF THE ABOVE" - so I don't have a horse in this race.
I think that you're off the mark on this one and using very limited anecdotal evidence to support your tenuous conclusions isn't a very compelling way to make your point. You can cherry-pick these types of things with any school (Chaminade included). I never said Kellenberg is a bad school, quite the contrary, but I think it's a joke to say that it is head and shoulders above St. Anthony's. At worst, they are pretty even in my opinion.
No slight intended at all, but Adelphi and Hofstra are hardly Ivies; fairly solid local schools, yes, but that's about all. At any rate, I don't think the average grad from St. Anthony's is struggling to get into these types of schools at all, and I'm pretty sure that they have similar arrangements with some local colleges that Kellenberg has; I know that my high school did.
If they have issues with performance the choices are limited, they will probably not get into Chaminade or Kellenberg, Sacred Heart. I am sure they could get into St Mary's but that's a lot of tuition to pay for basic education.
Many of Catholic Elementary Schools (1-8) don't have the services and attention that public schools have for learning disabilities. If you have a child that has issues they tend to move them along; you would be better off in publics school but it sounds like that is too late for your friends child.
I disagree with this statement. My son is in 6th grade in catholic school and is doing very well despite having an IEP for reading. He started with the IEP in 2nd grade at the suggestion of a wonderful teacher who has since retired. He is an A student in most classes but a B in anything like ELA and Lit. One can get services thru the school district. There is a resource teacher that comes into the school daily for children like my son. Also there is a special ed teacher who helps other children.
I hear that in high schools, there are special ed teachers on staff. In no way do I ever feel like my son is being pushed thru ; the teachers are wonderful and quick to respond to any and all questions I have regarding my sons school. I also have another son who has no issues at all and he is a straight A student.
Also wanted to add the fact that while some of the other Catholic high schools are wonderful, it seems as if your child isnt great at athletics, they do not play.
Dont forget Mercy McGann in Riverhead. Its a small school ; 500 this year, goes from 7th thru 12th grade. The good thing is that if the child isnt great at sports, but loves to play, they will still be on a team.
I find that the Catholic school kids are a little more responsible because they are familiar with what is expected of them by their parents and teachers. If I lived in a good school district, maybe I would consider public, but I dont. While one says that slower kids dont get the help ; I ahve seem with my own eyes two children who the school went to bat for until 4th grade. Then after many years of help, one had major reading problems, the other had major behaviour problems, they did end up going to public where they got the help the really needed.
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