By Kenneth J. Souza
Anchor Staff
FALL RIVER, Mass. — Parents of students throughout the diocese can attest to the value and importance of a Catholic education by the daily sacrifices they make to send their kids to parochial schools.
Most willingly take on the additional financial burden of tuition payments to provide their children with Catholic schooling, while others also sacrifice their time and resources to transport students to and from classes and extracurricular activities.
But for all, it’s a sacrifice they don’t regret making.
“We felt that sending our children to a Catholic school would enrich their lives,” said Maria Pereira. “We felt they would not only get a great education, but also learn about and live God’s message everyday.”
Maria and her husband John have three daughters currently enrolled at St. Mary’s School in New Bedford: Meagan, 11, is in sixth grade; Alyssa, nine, is in fourth grade; and Sara, seven, is in first grade.
“I went to public school while John attended Catholic school at St. Anthony’s in New Bedford from first to eighth grade and then attended a public high school,” she said. “When Megan was old enough to start school, John was adamant about her going to a Catholic school and after talking to other parents we decided that St. Mary’s was a good fit.”
Even despite the economic hardship of having to pay tuition for three students for the past seven years, Pereira said it’s something she and her husband willingly do to ensure their daughters’ “academic and spiritual needs are met.”
“John always talked about how when he went to public school it was a very different environment,” Pereira added. “He felt like a number and not a part of a family and that the (Catholic school) teachers take a very personal interest in their students.”
For Rochester resident Ann Domagala, the financial obligations of footing the tuition bill for five children at St. Mary’s School in New Bedford is also compounded by the daily commute that often includes two or three trips a day, depending on after-school activities.
“Rochester is a nice town and it has a good school system, but my husband and I felt we wanted the Catholic experience for our kids,” Ann Domagala said. “That’s why we’ve decided to cart them down to New Bedford everyday, back and forth, because we valued it so much.”
A parishioner at St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown, Ann and her husband Anthony have five children currently enrolled at St. Mary’s School — Meghan in seventh grade, Jack in fifth grade, Marc in fourth grade, Luc in second grade, and Jenna who just began kindergarten.
“We pay about $15,000 a year in tuition, and that’s a big pill to swallow,” Domagala admitted. “But the bottom line is we felt the financial expense was worth it. This is something they’re going to have for the rest of their life. You can’t put a price on that.”
A former public school teacher who worked in the New Bedford school system, Domagala also said while there are many dedicated teachers in public schools, she finds the level of commitment among Catholic school teachers to be inspiring.
“It seems the Catholic school teachers give it a 150 percent effort,” she said, “they seem more dedicated to their work.”
Leslie Vicente, a parishioner at St. John the Baptist Parish in New Bedford, would have to agree.
Not only does she work part-time at Holy Family-Holy Name School and St. James-St. John School, in New Bedford, but her two youngest sons are currently enrolled in the latter — Lucas in sixth grade, Joey in fourth grade.
“Some days I’m trying to figure out where the money is going to come from,” she said. “But my kids love St. James-St. John School. Lucas has not missed a day of school since third grade. I can’t see my kids anywhere else.”
It’s particularly challenging for Vicente as a single mother of four, who not only has to pay tuition for Lucas and Joey, but also for her eldest daughter Sasha, who’s attending classes at Bristol Community College in Fall River. Her other son, Tyler, attends New Bedford High School.
“It’s quite a bit of money when the huge salary isn’t there,” Vicente said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen this year — tuition just went up $200 for each child. It’s a sacrifice, but to me the special attention my kids get from their teachers and the values they are taught are all worth it.”
“We do OK, but we work extra hard just to do OK,” she added.
Kristen Hyde of Mashpee and her husband Brian currently have four children enrolled at St. Pius X School in South Yarmouth, with the prospect of sending their three preschool-aged children there sometime in the near future.
The Hyde Family currently has representation in just about every grade at St. Pius X — Brian in third grade, Brendan in second grade, Kylie in first grade, and Michael in kindergarten.
For the parishioners of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee, it’s not just the four tuition payments they have to contend with each year — it’s also the 22-mile commute to and from school everyday.
“We do have a commute, it probably takes about 40 minutes to drive in the morning,” Kristen Hyde said. “But the kids love the school.”
Since Brian teaches for the public schools in Mashpee, Kristen said people were surprised they opted to send their children to Catholic school.
“To me, they really provide a nurturing and family atmosphere in Catholic schools,” she said. “I think our decision will pay off in the long run. It’s not only the education, it’s the person that you are, I believe … and I think Catholic schools help mold you into a good person.”
When Nirva Moncoeur immigrated to the United States from Haiti seven years ago, the widow made a promise to herself that she would do whatever she could to put her two daughters through Catholic school.
While her youngest is still at home, her daughter Valeka is currently enrolled in third grade at the parochial school of her home parish of St. Stanislaus in Fall River. The proud mother expressed her excitement at the prospect of her daughter getting a Catholic education through an interpreter.
“It’s not easy at all to send her to Catholic school,” Moncoeur said. “Her father is dead and now I’m working full-time to pay her tuition. But I want my child to have the best education possible. I want her to speak English better than me.”
Likewise Anna Resendes, a parishioner at St. Michael’s Parish in Fall River, said she and her husband work two jobs each just to put their daughter Victoria and son Christian through the parish school.
“I would work a third job if tuition went up,” she said. “I would make any sacrifice to send them there.”
As one of five daughters who immigrated to the United States with her parents in 1978, Resendes said her parents unfortunately didn’t have the means to send all five girls to Catholic school at the time, so she is thankful to be able to provide that opportunity to her own children.
“I live in Swansea and we have a great school system that we pay taxes to support,” she said. “I could send them to public school, but I choose to send them elsewhere. I hope God will keep me healthy enough so they can both graduate and I can keep them there. We always want better for our children.”
Like so many parents who make daily sacrifices to send their children to Catholic school, Resendes cited the religious beliefs and values that St. Michael’s School imparts to students as one of the key reasons she opted to send them there.
“Religion is a huge part of my life and I was raised to believe in God and I want my children to have the same values,” she said. “As they say in the American Express commercials, to me a Catholic education is priceless.”