Homework 42- More Research and More Thinking

The question I hope to answer my research is: “What is the difference between public high schools and private Catholic high schools in New York City, and how does religion play a role in the curriculum taught in private schools?”

In my neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, I am faced with private schools all around me. Xaverian High School (an all boys school), Bishop Kearny High School (an all girls school), Fontbonne Hall Academy (also an all girls school), and Bay Ridge Preparatory School (a coed school) to name a few. Several of my friends attend these schools, and people from around my neighborhood are always surprised when I tell them I attend a public school in Manhattan. It’s unheard of, unless the school is some popular, big name school, such as LaGuardia or Stuyvesant. It never bothered me that I didn’t attend a private school, after all I am not Catholic, and these schools are Catholic schools. However, I did start to wonder what was so special about private schools. What can they possibly teach that is so wonderful, that they can stick a ridiculous ticket price on to the tuition? Sure they explore religion, and students are required to take a religion class, while public school students are not required to because religion does not play a role in a public school curriculum. But what else is so special about it?

In the terms of this matter affect the meaning of my life, it doesn’t affect me at my current age. I have attended public school all my life, and although I am attending a private university in the fall of 2010, that is different than attending a private high school. However, this matter will affect me at a later age, when I do have a family and have to decide where to send my children to college. Sure some of these pros and cons are subject to change (such as the tuition costs and curriculum), but by knowing the basics I can have some idea of where I want to send my future children. Although it is rather early to be deciding this at my age, I can also help my family members (such as my cousins who have toddlers) decide upon sending their child to a public or a private school.