Applying to a Catholic Elementary School

Applying to Catholic School - not a member of the parish

Jan 2009

I was hoping someone could enlighten me on this: How hard is it to get into Catholic primary schools if one is not a member of the school's parish? (The schools I'm thinking of specifically are School of the Madeleine and St. Jerome's.) I have looked on their websites and I know that 1st dibs on enrollment goes to parish members (understandable!). I was just wondering what this translates to in real life. Is it very difficult to matriculate if you are not a member of the parish? Or, are lots of non-parish kids accepted? FYI, my husband and I are 'culturally Catholic'... as in, our respective families (especially grandmothers!) are Catholic, to one degree or another. It's what we grew up with and 'what we know', so we do not have a problem with Catholic instruction. However, we've both moved away from the Church for various reasons, and are somewhat hesitant to return formally (as in, joining a parish). Thanks for any and all responses! ''Cafeteria Catholic''

From what I have heard,the two schools you mentioned have a large non-catholic student population. You should not have any problems getting in to them if you are not a parishioner. You might try other schools (like Corpus Christi and St. Theresa) too, the economy is having an impact on the number kindergarten applications for next fall. It's worth a try, right? -2 in Catholic School

At St. Jerome it won't make much difference, especially if you aren't applying for Kindergarten. There is not a lot of connection between the parish and school. Also, they don't have a tuition difference between the groups... everyone pays the same.

At the Madeleine being a parishioner can be more important depending on the applicant pool. There are families at the school that are non-Catholic and non-parish Catholics so you wouldn't be alone in that. had students at both

Our family attends St. Jerome. We are not catholic nor do we belong to the parish. I believe the Oakland Diaosies is very liberal when it comes to this requirement. St Jerome and the Madeline are in my opinion very open although I am sure they would love the parish membership. You should not have a problem with the enrollment, as long as the parish does not have families entering the grades you are looking at. And from what I know, you should not have an issue as enrollment is down in both schools from ''parish membership''. Good Luck they are both good choices. Kish