Jill McCormack’s reason for sending her children to Catholic school is simple.
“I want to do everything I can to get them to heaven,” said McCormack, a mother of four whose two eldest children, Liana and Vinny, attend third and first grade respectively at St. John School in Westminster.
“Almost as importantly,” she explained, “I want them to have the tools to live a good life while they’re on earth and be good people and serve.”
For many parents of Catholic schoolchildren throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore, cultivating faith is at the top of the list of reasons for choosing Catholic education. For others, strong academics, a sense of community, opportunities for service or safe environments are just as important.
The Catholic Review spoke with several parents about why they make sacrifices to keep their children in Catholic schools.
Opportunity for education
Paris Gibson always knew she wanted to send her children to a good school, but the single parent worried about the financial burden of tuition.
When Gibson started to research schools, she learned about the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s scholarship opportunities for Baltimore City Catholic schools. She reached out to what was then Holy Angels Catholic School and “fell in love.”
“I wanted to make sure not only that they received a quality education,” she said, “but that they were being educated in an environment where there were still rules and principles.”
Her son, Dallas Paschall, was accepted and received financial aid – a “blessing,” Gibson said.
Dallas graduated from Mother Mary Lange Catholic School in Baltimore last spring after starting there in sixth grade. When it came time to find a school for his little sister, Egypt-Reign Harcum, it was a no-brainer.
“I just felt so at ease with Dallas going to Catholic school, and so once I had Egypt, it was automatic that she would go to Catholic school as well,” Gibson said.
Egypt attended Mother Mary Lange for pre-k-3, then transferred to St. Agnes School in Catonsville in her pre-k-4 year. Gibson said her daughter, now a kindergartener, is “so in love” with Jesus, and that she teaches her things every day.
From a teacher and a parent
For Beth Varanko, a first-grade teacher at St. John the Evangelist School in Hydes, the reasons she wanted to teach in a Catholic school are the same as she wanted her daughter to attend one.
“I had the most amazing experience going to small, private schools myself and I wanted to be able to teach in a small, private, Catholic school where we can talk about faith, we can talk about God,” said Varanko, who went to private elementary school and then graduated from The John Carroll School in Bel Air.
Varanko’s daughter, Cecilia, is a student this year in her first-grade classroom. The single mother said the tight-knit community of St. John the Evangelist is important to them both.
“Here, I feel like (Cecilia) has people who care for her,” Varanko said. “It’s important to me that she has those influences and people she can go to.”
In turn, Varanko gets to be there for her students.
“I feel like I get to know each child really well and get to build a relationship with them, which as a teacher, I love,” she said.
Tight-knit community
The Young family lives within walking distance of St. Francis of Assisi School in the Northeast neighborhood of Baltimore City. Carrie Young, mother of sixth-grader, Lucien, and third-grader, Julia, said St. Francis is an integral part of their neighborhood.
“We’re very much like a community hub in a way that churches traditionally have been, but aren’t always still,” said Young, also a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi.
Most of the families in the school live in the surrounding community, Young said, and others are connected to the neighborhood because they work nearby.
Young just spent two years as the president of the Home and School Association, and is still on its board.
Academically, St. Francis has done well for Lucien and Julia, who started there in kindergarten and pre-K, respectively. Young said the school offers traditional standards and discipline, while also being a warm and welcoming environment with some progressive ideas, such as flexible seating.
“It’s a small, supportive community,” Young said. “We always say that it’s not just a school, it’s a way of life.”
A worthwhile investment
For Katie Moore and her family, Catholic education has provided attention that couldn’t be offered to their children in public school. Their three daughters attend St. John the Evangelist School in Hydes this year.
The Moores’ oldest daughter, Grady, previously attended preschool at Immaculate Conception School in Towson. The family loved their experience, but after COVID hit and they moved to a new area, they enrolled their girls in public school.
“Grady received a great foundation,” Moore said. “She was set up for success.”
After her second child, Wyatt, completed kindergarten in public school, they realized she was missing the building blocks that Grady had. Wyatt is repeating kindergarten at St. John the Evangelist this year, Moore said, so she gets a strong foundation. Grady is now in third grade, and the youngest, Declan, is in pre-k-3.
“I wanted to start Declan off with that advantage as well, getting that personalized foundation,” Moore said.
Academic discipline
When J. Smith’s daughter Madison was just a toddler, she and her husband noticed Madison was ahead of the curve and eager to learn. They wanted to support her in any way they could, and after researching schools, knew they found the right fit when they came across St. Agnes School in Catonsville.
“Ultimately, it was the discipline that St. Agnes provided, being able to teach the religion alongside the academics starting even in the pre-k program,” Smith said.
Now in seventh grade, Smith said Madison is thriving. An inquisitive student, Madison loves to debate and ask questions.
Smith said they have been talking about high school since fifth grade, and though they do not know where Madison will go yet, she is prepared.
As Madison prepares to move on from St. Agnes and on to high school in the coming years, the Smiths’ journey at St. Agnes is far from complete. They plan to enroll their 2-year-old daughter in the same pre-K-3 program next fall.
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