Alternative to Overpriced Cleveland-area Catholic High Schools

Just received this message in my inbox, so I thought I'd spread the word here at Est Quod Est. The parent-run Catholic school we send our kids to, Padre Pio Academy, is starting 9th and 10th grades in the fall. The cost is going to be very reasonable, especially compared to St. Edward's and St. Ignatius and it will also be 100% Common Core-free, so that's awesome.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Who: Parents & Students Interested in High School

What: Meeting tomorrow (Thursday May 22)

When: 7:30 PM

Where: Padre Pio Academy - 12920 Madison Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

Why: To find out about the PPA high school coming fall 2014

Hear a presentation about the High School curriculum and learn about registration, tuition, elective courses, clubs, activities and much more!

Staff members will be on site to talk to parents and students.

Don't forget — Special discount on tuition for registration expires May 30th. $900 Savings!

Spread the word!

*If you cannot make the meeting but would like to arrange a time to learn about the program, please call (216) 571-0174.

One of the reasons I feel extra motivated to post this is that a friend sent me this link noticing that the summer reading list at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland once again includes the truly insipid book The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I blogged about this last year and though I realize that our combox discussion featured cordial disagreements about how concerned parents and Catholics should be about the reading list, I think my argument is a little bit stronger now that the book is once again on the list. Assuming you really want to have a book which has been recently authored on your list — for whatever reason — can you really expect me to believe that there has been nothing written in the last year that is better than this book? I've read better Bazooka Joe comics. And Bazooka Joe doesn't make fun of Jesus Christ.

Church Militant reports on Padre Pio Academy

Yes, my kids are in this. Joe specifically noted to me how he is "not actually jumping rope" at the end.

Gilbert is sitting in the back of the class "pretending to read". Every once in a while he breaks into a grin.

Homeschools and Stylites

This piece in First Things by Sally Thomas brought my wife and I some delight last week. Excerpt:

The night before, we had gone to dinner with old friends, and in the course of the evening the conversation turned to our homeschooling. Our hosts didn't want to argue with the decision my husband and I had made to homeschool; in truth, people do that a lot less often than we had steeled ourselves to expect early on. I suppose they didn't ask how we expected our children to be "socialized" because there the children were, in front of everyone, doing their best impersonations of socialized people. The nine-year-old talked to the grownups about Star Wars, the four-year-old helped to carry dishes to the table, the three-year-old played nicely on the floor with our friends’ baby granddaughter. The twelve-year-old, away at a ballet rehearsal, proclaimed her socialization by her absence.

I suppose our delight stems from the fact that we plan to at least try homeschooling. I'm always hearing things like "well, you'll have to have some plan for an alternative to the socialization that school provides." I used to always say in response "yeah, that is a concern, you have a point, etc.", but now I don't know that I afford the so-called socialization lacking in a homeschool atmosphere any value whatsoever. It's more accurately called a youth culture and unfortunately leads to an emphasis on television rather than good literature as is mentioned later in the article.

Please correct me if you think I am wrong. I know this topic really stirs a lot of passions.