St Joseph middle school for Jewish/non-Christian family?

Parent of 2 kids at Catholic schools (and also Catholic but answering since no one else posted). At this point in time, MOST Catholic schools (elementary, high school and universities) have more non-Catholic students than Catholic students. You might want to ask the principal the ratio - it's usually something like 60% (non-Catholic )/40 % Catholic, and that is probably generous. 

My experience is that the vast majority of schools do, in fact, show great respect and tolerance for people of other faiths. Our student has friends that are Sikh, Buddhist and agnostic. Should you send your child to a Catholic school however, your child will take part in religion classes, masses, and other religious activities. If you are not comfortable with this or are not sure how to talk to your child about it, then it's probably not the right choice for your family.

As a Catholic parent, I find it discouraging to see how often people ask about how "Catholic' schools are (though I understand this was not your specific question). Honestly, if people want a private school education, then there are plenty of those to choose from. Catholic schools should not be treated as the default 'low cost' privates. All Catholic schools are a ministry of the Church, so you need to be comfortable with that reality.

To answer your second concern, yes, most of the kids have been together since kindergarten, and that can make it tricky coming into middle school, but teachers are aware of this and do their best to incorporate new students at that level. There are also lots of changes that happen in 6th grade already (lockers, changing classrooms, different teachers) to start getting kids ready for HS, so that helps. Sometimes it's also refreshing to have a fresh face among kids who are getting tired of one another. 

Speaking from the other p.o.v. -- it is hard for a Jewish child to grow up without exposure to other Jewish children especially at that middle-school/high school age. In the public schools, there are more likely to be other Jewish students. I know in OUSD and BUSD there are other Jewish students at the high school level. Is that the case in AUSD?

We had our son attend St Joe's for high school and we are not Catholic and do not attend practice although both my husband and I were raised in Catholic homes. In fact, we are quite critical of organized religion but recognize the impact on politics, societies and history. That said, we had a positive experience there as the attitude was one of respect for all religions, creeds and nationalities. We were comfortable with the classes that used the bible as instructional text as it was an academic subject not preaching. There is a retreat for senior students, which emphasized many of the principles of the good citizen, faith, morality, community, service, etc, and we were happy to see how it really allowed boys and girls the space to explore and achieve acceptance in themselves and others.

On an academic note for h.s., the classes were challenging; the science program is really top-notch, and we loved the enrichment, whether in a class or in a club. Overall the students are very friendly, with not a lot of drama and cliques to navigate since it's small. And the younger students seemed to have a similar emphasis on belonging to a community. Thus, I would imagine middle school being similar with an emphasis on preparation both academically and personally.

Most of our son's friends were not religious or at least non-Catholic and are quite diverse in backgrounds so overall a great experience with several positive role models among the alumni and teachers.

I asked the same before my two children attended the elementary school at St. Joe's (elem and middle are in same building, same principal) and was told all are accepted. No one is targeted if not Catholic, but expect heavy religion. There are prayers every morning at flag, prayers before lunch, religion class weekly (if not more often), weekly mass, etc.  For me I didn't realize how much time was spent on Catholicism. It felt cult-like at times but I think all Catholic schools might to me as we aren't religious. I don't know if it is all teacher's at the school either, or if some are more relaxed, but my son's teacher got mad at him for rubbing the ashes off his forehead. He also got in trouble for not saying the Lord's Prayer. Last, when they went through sex-ed or Life Skills or whatever it is called the books talk about a man marries a woman, that sex is only for a man with his wife after marriage, etc. We had to have discussions at home about how this is what their religion teaches but it is not what the law is, or what our family believes. Hope this helps.