The decision to send our son to Catholic school stemmed from the challenges that my husband and I faced through our own educational experiences. It also stemmed from the hope that our son achieves success by way of an academic education that is also anchored in purpose, love for others and the principles of our Catholic faith. With this in mind, we looked for schools that would educate our son as a person, while also catering to his academic needs —- and Holy Spirit School does just that.
Like most parents, the quality of the education that our children receive is important. We didn’t have to do much research to confirm the high academic performance, lower teacher to student ratios, robust curriculum, or the high-tech teaching and learning tools that exist at most private schools. That’s why most parents pay good money to send their children through private school. However, we also wanted to make sure that certain values like compassion, forgiveness, honesty and community service would be a part of our son’s daily lessons. These are some of the values that are taught in Catholic schools through prayers, songs, religious instruction and activities. Our son knows to pray for sick teachers, friends and family members, or anyone who is in trouble, and often brings home drawings of him helping others or performing kind gestures.
At Holy Spirit School, we can see that our vision for our child is shared by a close-knit community of parents, teachers and staff who work hard to provide quality education for the children, put consistent effort into fundraising and serving the community around them, even during the most challenging times. When I see a teacher quickly respond to one of my messages or post a class assignment late at night, on a weekend, or any time beyond his or her work hours, or a parent who rallies an entire school community to raise funds for a good cause, I can see that my son is not just “going to school,” but is experiencing learning beyond academic instruction. His character is being developed through the impact of a deeply invested community of teachers and parents, who teach and help the children not because it is their “nine to five obligation,” but out of love and the purpose to serve. Even as we went from a two-income household to a one-income household, the shift in our financial situation did not affect our decision to keep sending our son to Catholic school. Other sacrifices can be made, because we can see that this is the kind of environment that will help our son realize his purpose and develop good character throughout his life.
