Public or parochial? Eighth graders weigh high-school options

For eighth grader Mariana Sosa, who lives in downtown Chicago, waking up early on a Saturday morning to take the annual Catholic high-school placement exam was a necessary step toward achieving her educational goals. She took the test Jan. 12 at her top choice, St. Scholastica Academy, an all-girls school with 210 students in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

"I like that there aren't a lot of girls so that the teacher can give me more attention when I need help," said Sosa, 13.

Approximately 40 students took the placement exam for St. Scholastica, which currently has 45 freshmen. The applicant pool for the class of 2012 is likely to grow since students who didn't take the exam can apply by contacting their chosen high school individually.

The Archdiocese of Chicago estimates that about 7,000 students will apply to its high schools this year.

Choosing to attend a Catholic rather than a public high school is a multi-faceted decision. Finances are part of the mix.

Tuition at St. Scholastica is $8,500 a year. Parents like Maricela Alonso, Sosa's mother, rely on scholarships to pay the tuition. Without it, they might end up sending their children to one of Chicago's 116 public high schools. Forty-one percent of Catholic high schools students receive financial aid, according to an Archdiocese of Chicago annual report.

In addition to an emphasis on religious instruction, there are significant differences between Chicago's Catholic and public high schools. James Accurso, Assistant Director of the Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Media Relations, said that a higher percentage of Catholic school graduates attend college than Chicago Public School graduates.

According to the 2007 Report from the Office of Catholic Schools, 94 percent of Chicago's Catholic school students attend college after graduation.According to the Chicago Public Schools communications office,46 percent of the system's 2006 graduates enrolled in college.

Mike Vaughn, press secretary for CPS, had no comment on statistics about college-bound graduates. But he noted the public schools' wide range of specialty studies including technology-focused schools and vocational schools.

For some parents, however, the most important specialty study is spiritual.

Alonso, Mariana's mother,values the Catholic high schools' focus on "the Catholic principles that we give them at home like having love towards their community and other people and giving their service.''