I got paid shitty compared public. Like 2/3rds the amount. They hired me. Minimal behavior issues. Very old school and people don’t want to adapt or change.
Can anyone tell me the pros of working in a Catholic school? I’m going to be teaching music and I feel like I only hear negatives about pay.
I got paid shitty compared public. Like 2/3rds the amount. They hired me. Minimal behavior issues. Very old school and people don’t want to adapt or change.
Positives usually include the fact that private schools can be selective around student enrollment. Kids who have massive behavioral issues can be expelled, kids who don’t perform at a high enough level can be too. In theory, parents are more engaged because it’s on their dime. There’s usually lower demand around special education needs. You might have an easier time with classroom management, less literacy gaps, and potentially more structure at home. Cons usually include low pay, bad benefits, no unions, in extreme cases you’ve gotta watch what you say more, conservative culture (can be a pro or con depending on your views), and sometimes parents feel more entitled because they’re paying tuition, which can trickle down to the kids. Catholicism is interesting because it’s broad in its politics; I grew up in a catholic Irish family who were borderline socialists, but then I’ve met Catholics who are borderline evangelists, so I wouldn’t judge the culture of the school or student body just based on being catholic. I live in a state where public schools have strong unions, so for me it’d be a 5-figure pay cut if I went to a parochial school, and I’d lose my beast mode health insurance, AND my pension… those are the biggest reasons id say no.
If you have a spouse in the private sector for $ and insurance, this is a much easier and more chill gig in comparison
That isn't necessarily true. A *lot* of private schools over-schedule their teachers, require them to attend evening or weekend events, and provide little notice if they decide to make changes.
I love it. I have an admin that's super supportive and hey don't throw teachers under the bus. I've got pretty good classroom management, but when bigger problems come up they are handled. I'm at an inner city school where most kids are getting significant financial aid, it's not some elite orep school. Our alumni are a big key to the success. I have a ton of control over my lessons with reasonable guidelines to adhere to. I also have full use of the fitness center and pool all year long.
It was so easy and enough of the kids care
Was a catholic school teacher for 14 years. I’ve seen so many music teachers come in and get overwhelmed. Most crucial is class management. Typically you manage each class after the room teacher drops them off (some schools might do it differently) I’ve seen music teachers get eaten alive. Most kids are good but only takes a few entitled brats to cause disruption. One hour you might have kindergarten the next hour 7th graders so it can be challenging Hopefully admin is supportive. We had one teacher that was awesome and had the class engaged. He stayed the longest. Also there’s usually a Christmas show or some kind of of show in Which each class performs. Hope this helps Good luck!👍 😊 Just my two cents worth.
If you’re LGBTQ you can (and often will) be fired. There’s no union. If you are not ok with toeing the Catholic BS for “sanctity of life”, you can be fired. I interviewed for a French teacher job at a Catholic high school in Lincoln, NE. They asked me about my position on the Church’s pro life stand. I asked them if they had a problem with teen pregnancy, and how that doctrine fit in with teaching verb conjugation. I didn’t get the job, obvs.
I mean location dependent too… that was in Lincoln, NE. The Catholics in the Northeast are more likely to be “live and let live.”
You will get a lot of Christmas gifts. Possibly wine if you are a drinker. You will have mostly well-behaved students, although you will still encounter the occasional over-priveledged private school kid. That being said, I worked for one for 6 years, and am Catholic. Catholic schools view teaching as a calling, and a part of their overall religious outreach. Because of this, it's won't just be low pay, but an expectation of service and sacrifice (without extra pay). All teaching environments have martyrs, Catholics wrote the book on it. Beyond that, you will likely find a lot of the employees who got their jobs based on their piety and service to the Church, not their innate qualifications. This can be benign when it's the janitor or secretary. It can really mess up your life if it's someone in payroll.
It’s not unusual for the staff fridge to be filled with booze for some upcoming meeting or event haha.
In my experience public versus private, far less behavioral issues in private (as the school can just kick the parents out). You also tend to have parents more on board with their kids' education and more willing to contribute to whatever you need (as they're paying for them to attend a school). Plus, being as the school doesn't have to follow public curriculum, you may get more time on music with each class than a public school would allow. I've always felt like religious music education has been one of the nicest jobs. It's so built into a church service, it gives everybody a natural performance avenue as well as exposes children to musical principles early. Like, I myself am not Christian or even terribly religious, but I genuinely believe part of the reason why music literacy has gone down is because children aren't hearing live music once a week anymore. You can't tell me people weren't learning some sight reading or tonal memory from hymnals.
Depends on the school. Our school’s salary range is the exact same as our public schools and we have incredible benefits. I have loved every second of working there and my children attend with a nice discount. Our school still takes in special needs, we have everything from ADHD and Autism to Down syndrome but we don’t put up with extreme behaviors for as long as public schools do. Usually a one year improvement plan and then you’re asked to leave. Even if you’re not Catholic you’re still expected to uphold the beliefs and teachings and attend Mass.
Sounds exactly like the Catholic school all my children attended. Children with disabilities were accepted and the school employed several Special Education teachers, plus a full time SLP, and two reading specialists. IEPs and 504s were honored and implemented. They lacked nothing except extremely disruptive behavior and low expectations.
I'm in a Catholic high school, and I love it. Very chill about religion. Similar pay to public, though no union. Great kids too. Lots of folks in this subreddit dump on private schools, but it's very much a YMMV experience.
Pay is not great and insurance is bad. Kids are great - very few behavior issues. Parents are invested. Some are helicopter parents. Just be very clear and upfront about boundaries and expectations with kids and parents. If you are clear and consistent, parents largely respect the rules. I have been working in Catholic school for 7 years (all girl secondary) and it's great.
Kids tend to have better morales in my experience. I taught catholic for two years and that was the number one thing I noticed was those kids had respect t for elders and basic morales.
Private school kids do have better manners. Trouble makers who can't hide it from the staff don't get to stay. This is more true in Catholic schools than in schools that might tolerate rich brats because the institution is financially dependent on tuition and donations. As for morals, no. A ton of nonreligious parents send their kids to Catholic schools for a superior education or to keep them out of poor schools. Selfishness, cruelty, sex, and drugs are as common in noncompetitive Catholic schools as they are in public schools.
Salary is usually less but imo the pros outweigh the cons. There may be some religious stuff you have to tolerate and bite your tongue a bit. I'm not really religious But the kids are great, very well behaved and respectful. I have worked at both public and private high schools. Kids usually seem a little more motivated to do well as their parents are usually paying for their education.
Your insurance will suck. Your pay will likely suck. You’ll be told it’s a ministry to justify the low pay and high preps. If it’s an ordered school (Jesuit, Benedictine, and so on) it’ll likely be a good school. If it’s a parish church it’s probably going to be average at best. Still, it’s pretty easy.
The pay and benefits will be very different in different dioceses. In my area the pay is similar to the public schools and they still offer an actual pension. This isn’t true everywhere.
I’ve worked in catholic schools for a few years now. Salary scale isn’t great, but the parents’ association and admin can be really supportive. We get Christmas and teacher appreciation bonuses of about $1200 each, which helps. The community can be wonderful. But BEWARE IF YOU ARE A SEXUALLY ACTIVE WOMAN Your health insurance will NOT cover birth control. At all. Even in California. Even if you’re married. My IUD rejected last year, and I would have had to pay $1500 for a replacement. I ended up switching to the OTC pill which is $40 for a 3 month supply. A bit annoying
Don't have a kid that likes to drive really fast into a wall.
I teach music at an elementary age catholic school. Low expectations from admin bc past music teachers were terrible. I prepare kids to sing at Mass and anything extra that I do is highly appreciated. Low pay, terrible benefits. Parents are extremely generous. I stay after school for a few hours teaching private lessons and basically double my salary doing that.