Put More Jewish in Catholic High Schools

The great Amy Welborn recommended an article on the state of Catholic high school education and, as is so often the case, I read one article (or part of it!) and then have to track down some parallel line of thinking. I thought I’d do some research on what I could find about a couple of elite Catholic schools in Cincinnati that my nieces attended. (It's surprisingly hard to find a website that gives the culture of a given Catholic high school; for colleges it seems much easier.) 

Perhaps it is to be expected and always was so, but if you want a grim view of how unimportant Catholicism seems to be to Catholic school students, one could scarcely find a better example than reading the student reviews of their schools on Niche website. 

My “research”, flawed and anecdotal though it may be, found that the selling point of the 200+ reviews of the schools are: sports and academics, rinse and repeat. And absolutely career-focused. Yes the Niche commenters are self-selected and don’t represent those more religiously motivated. For comparison’s sake, I found this comment almost immediately regarding a random Jewish high school (TVT Community School):

“TVT was my first real in depth exposure to Judaism. I learned hebrew and judaica from teachers that genuinely cared about making sure students got the most out of every lesson possible.”

Another a bit farther down:

“I have learned many morals at TVT and have been given the opportunity to learn from some of the best teachers in their fields... The Jewish values stressed everyday makes this school welcoming, and gives us a desire to continue our Jewish practices beyond high school. one flaw, however, is the Hebrew department. The work in this class is often tedious and does not truly help teach the important words needed to go to have a conversation.”

Meanwhile, a typical and telling review of priorities: “Ask anyone familiar with Saint U. Academy, and they'll tell you that we take 2 things very seriously: academics and the sisterhood.” 

Which could be said of 99.9% of good non-Catholic high schools in the country. 

Another comment: “The girls who go there only care about materialism.” 

Which could be said of 99.9%....

The only review that seems to mentions religious does so concerning increased knowledge of others rather than her own: “I have been exposed to many different culture and religions in my time at Saint U. I have visited with various religious leaders of different practices and become familiar with foreign cultures.” 

 Niece K’s school doesn't rate any better:

“[The school's] beliefs tend to be more liberal than other traditional Catholic high schools in the area.” 

“I have loved the clubs here so much. Especially the gay straight alliance.”

“They are also very open to new clubs and offer things such as LGBT awareness club, multicultural club, interfaith club, etc.” 

“I’ve never heard of a Catholic/private school quite like mine. We even have a LGBTQ+ and Support club.”

Which again, you can find at any high school. Great, just great.