How did the Sisters do it? ... I don't know. There were at least 50 children in each class and the Sisters rarely had a helping hand. We had folk dancing on Wednesdays taught by a regular dance instructor; I imagine that hour must have been a little touch of "heaven" for our Sister! She didn't even get recess off because there was no one else to perform yard duty.Catholic school was the best of my education in every respect. Now that could have partially been because, at age 13, I went on to one of the two much larger public schools (dubbed Sodom and Gomorrah by Sister L, our principal) and because hormones kicked in. After 8 years of religion, rules and respect, it was strange to see students slouching in their seats when answering a question (we ALWAYS stood by our desks when speaking in class). No one in public high school could diagram a sentence the way we former Catholic school kids could. And I was particularly fortunate because Sister J and her propensity for "modern math" came along when I was in 7th grade, so I received an education in bases and square roots which not every parochial school was able to offer. I got so good that I competed in math competitions! Believe me, considering what happened in HS, that was amazing! Our class had a lot of good voices as well, and an excellent instructor, Sister A, who coaxed Latin 5-part harmony into our heads and melodiously out of our mouths. And history ... the crusades, serfdom, missions ... we learned it all with a healthy touch of secular history thrown in as well.
If my dad had had his preference, he would have driven all his girls to the Catholic high school which was about 30 miles away. It was impossible, of course. He also had a stroke when I was 12. He could no longer drive me to YCS (Young Christian Students). I would receive my last scholarly honor pin at age 13. And on to high school where times were a changin'. I became too vain to wear my glasses. I started to smoke (quit ages ago.) I lost interest in school except for Art (Thank God for a wonderful art teacher!). Interestingly, the boys with whom I had gone to Catholic school, who were average students in grade school, really took off and excelled in high school! And many of the girls did well too, not falling into the trap that I did. The very same girl who, one year prior, had been in math competitions, had some sort of mental block about algebra in high school. There is, of course, much more to the story, but this post is to talk about Catholic school.
Some might argue that a Catholic education is not superior. I can only speak of my own experience, the care I felt and from which I benefitted. My own teen years made a difference, I admit. Whether Catholic high school would have changed anything in my education, it's hard to say because there were other factors.
I now live in a city where the Catholic grade school no longer is staffed by any Sisters. I think the enrollment is pretty small and they have financial woes. Sad. Because for me it really was my best education.
Incidentally, most of my lifelong friends are from my Catholic school time. (Perhaps that is a comment on my personality more than education itself.) Soon, I will be having lunch with the two girls with me in the above illustration and with our 6th grade Sister ... what was she– 12 years old?– when she was teaching us?
