Consider what Jesus said regarding those that follow him:

                "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

Why Choose St. Mary of the Woods over a Public School?

St. Mary of the Woods School requires parents to commit a considerable investment of time, talent, and financial resources for their child’s educational future. As with any investment there should also be a reasonable expectation of a return. So why should you choose to invest in St. Mary of the Woods Catholic school? There are many compelling reasons, beyond the benefits of higher academic achievement.

More than 5 million parents truly believe that Jesus "came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10), and they search for that fullness of life for their children in Catholic schools. St. Mary of the Woods School is a "special place" to hear that invitation, that command, and that promise. Next to the family, Catholic school is the most effective place for Christians to search the inscrutable mysteries of revelation and to be assured that, even before the world was made, God had decreed to call each person to life and prepare each person for the fullness of life. At St. Mary of the Woods, young people learn Christ’s commandment to love God and one another. They are taught that this is the greatest of the commandments. We are a living testimony to the millions of Christians that Jesus is alive in his community and is continuing his promise to strengthen each "with the utter fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).

What Does National Research Say about Catholic Education?

In 1982, researchers James Coleman, Thomas Hoffer, and Sally Kilgore did a major analysis of data to identify the differences between public and private schools. In their report, High School Achievement: Public, Catholic, and Private Schools Compared, they reported three important findings: the students in private schools learn more than those in public schools; the private schools are safer, more disciplined, and have a more ordered environment than Public Schools; and Public Schools are more internally segregated than the private school.

These differences were summarized by Dr. Donald A. Erickson, a notable researcher in private education, who drew a significant implication from the Coleman report, one which had been a keystone in his own research: that one of the most distinguishing characteristics of private schools is the superior social climate.

In an article entitled, "The Superior Social Climate of Private Schools," he states:
The private school teachers were more committed to insuring that students learned. More time was spent on instruction in the essential academic subjects. Every type of problematic behavior that Coleman examined was less prevalent in private schools. Though the discipline was more strict, and though "student rights" were not guaranteed by many legal safeguards that apply to public schools, the private school students felt they were treated more fairly and had a greater sense of control over their own destinies. Students were absent less. More homework was assigned, more was done, and less time was spent in staring at television. Parents were more supportive.

Dr. Erickson presented a conceptual model of this type of school with four characteristics, the first of which builds on the high degree of commitment of the parents, teachers, and students. They form a community with support, enthusiasm, and volunteerism. They agree on goals, objectives, and priorities. They feel a sense of "specialness" and service.

Catholic Schools: Impact of Communities

Coleman and Hoffer understood "functional community" to give unity and support to people in an institution. They defined it as "a community in which social norms and sanctions, including those that cross generations, arise out of the social structure itself, and both reinforce and perpetuate that structure."6 A functional community is "social capital": that relationship between people that produces trust, which, in turn, creates an atmosphere where more can be accomplished than when it is absent. The success of the Catholic schools is linked to the existence of its functional communities—they are communities of learning and believing.

Summary statements from their 1987 in-depth study entitled, Public and Private High Schools: The Impact of Communities, underscored higher achievement levels:

• The Catholic schools bring about greater growth for the average students in both verbal and mathematical skills than do public schools.

• Catholic schools show a considerably less depressive effect of these family deficiencies in achievement growth than do public schools; other private (non-religious) schools show a greater depressive effect of these family deficiencies on achievement growth than do public schools.

• The dropout rate from Catholic schools is strikingly lower than the rate from public schools. This reduced dropout rate holds both for those who show no signs of problems as sophomores and for those who as sophomores are academically or disciplinarily at risk of dropping out.

Coleman and Hoffer wanted a scientific explanation of the low dropout rate in Catholic schools. They hypothesized that there would be a similar explanation for the higher achievement in Catholic schools, fewer disciplinary programs, and higher aspirations of Catholic school students. In essence, they found that the very low dropout rate is evidence that the functional community surrounding the Catholic school does provide social resources which keep the students from dropping out.

Catholic schools aren’t there to make our young upwardly mobile, nor to assure them of a wrinkle-free life, nor to offer them security. They are there precisely to take all that away from them, to challenge them to give up security and come out onto the road. Any school that claims to embody the Gospel of Jesus Christ must, by definition, make them the apostles they were ordained to be at baptism, an apostleship they allegedly confirmed at Confirmation. Humanity is our nature—it’s natural. Christianity is humanity-plus—it’s supernatural. Christianity doesn’t ask us to be unbad—it asks us to be holy. We want to lead our students, with ourselves, to acknowledge—humbly—that we are not God, and yet we also acknowledge—proudly—that we have been chosen. That we are his sons and daughters, peers of the realm. That we have been missioned, just as Jesus was missioned. At this moment, Jesus has not hands but our hands. He has no hearts but our hearts. We are his embodiment. This is the life-ideal a Catholic schools wants to present to its students.

The call of the Christian is to serve, to be used, especially by the undeserving. We have it from the highest authority that the only norm for "the good life" is not how high our SAT scores were, how much money we made, or how many times we got our names in the papers. We have it from Jesus himself that the only question which will determine whether our lives were worth living is: "I was hungry. I was thirsty. I was the one they called ‘nerd.’ What did you do about that?"

If our young people find that Gospel message boring and not unnerving, then they have never really heard the Gospel message. This is the intimidating product we offer. And it is the touchstone by which our school will be judged Catholic or not. We need to challenge our young people to get over their boredom by personal involvement, by risking to witness their faith not only to their peers, but also to those with whom they work. We need to communicate more effectively to them that their deepest hunger is for God and a real experience of love that is forever and forgiving. We need to show them what a difference the Church has made in our own lives. Adolescents long for community, friendship, identity, and a challenge, a task that will take them out of themselves in the service of others.

In closing, if you are a product of Catholic education please give to your children the same gift that was given to you by your parents. If you are a grandparent and you have grandchildren who are not in a Catholic school encourage your children to make the same investment that you did. Finally, if you would like to know more about the faith, family and tradition of St. Mary of the Woods please contact us.