Catholic schools week: our legacy our meaning january 26, 2015 kyle conway
As we head into 2015, us along with thousands of other catholic schools will be celebrating Catholic Schools week from the 26th to the 30th of this month. This week will be celebrated with an all school mass on Monday and information will be told all week about catholic schooling and our impact in our nation's and world's history. So here is a little info on catholic schools.
Catholic schools that were started in America were originally funded by the government, but a late 1800's movement by Protestant Americans opposed to Catholic religion and influence convinced congress to pass a bill against funding the catholic schools, leaving thousands of schools unfunded and in danger of closing down. Yet, Catholic families still sent their kids and paid the extra money to send their kids to catholic schools in fear of the Protestant run public schools. They feared their children being ridiculed and would attempt to convert them. Due to this, Catholic schools strived on and stayed operational well into the 20th Century. By the 1920's there were a total of 8,052 catholic schools and by the 1960's over 5.5 million students were enrolled in catholic schools.
Although catholic schools were growing, by the 1970's more Americans moved to the suburbs and enrolled their kids in public schools, dropping the catholic school enrollment drastically. Nuns were replaced with lay teachers and tuition went up. A lot of Catholic schools closed, yet many remained operational and still are to this day, including Joliet Catholic Academy. This week is to celebrate not only Catholic schools themselves, but all the sacrifices and hard work that went into making them a reality to this day.