PAPERS READ AT THE GENERAL MEETINGS

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HIGH SCHOOLS

VERY REV. JAMES A. BURNS, C. S. C., CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE

To the Executive Board of the Catholic Educational Association:

Gentlemen: The undersigned Committee on Catholic High Schools begs to submit the following report of its work during the past scholastic year. At the close of the Detroit meeting it was determined by the Committee to prepare for the next annual meeting of the Association a report which would exhibit the number, location and character of the existing Catholic high schools for boys, together with as much information as might be obtainable about the curriculum and the teaching, the whole to be accompanied by a statement which, while summarizing the statistics obtained, would, at the same time, present the conclusions arrived at by the Committee in regard to the entire subject of Catholic high schools. The report which is now submitted represents the efforts made towards the carrying out of this purpose. The Committee held several meetings, at which the work was planned, and these conferences were supplemented by correspondence. The statistics and detailed information at the end of the report were gathered by the secretary of the Committee, who is also the Secretary General of the Association, the letters of inquiry being sent out from his office. The statement, and discussion which follows, were prepared by the chairman of the Committee. It has been submitted to the other members of the Committee, and has met with their approval. The Committee takes this occasion to offer its grateful acknowledgment to the various superiors and directors of the Catholic high schools for their promptness in replying to the Committee's letters of inquiry,

and for the generous and cordial spirit of cooperation shown in supplying the information that was sought.

REV. JAMES A. BURNS, C. S. C., Chairman.

REV. WALTER STEHLE, O. S. B.

REV. JAMES J. DEAN, O. S. A.

BRO. JOHN A. WALDRON, S. M.

REV. FRANCIS W. HOWARD, Secretary.

SCOPE AND METHOD OF THE INQUIRY

During the Fall of 1910, a list of the schools which were to be the object of the Committee's investigation was made out. This took much time, as the schools had to be carefully selected. Inasmuch as the primary purpose of the study was to ascertain the strength of the Catholic high school movement, in so far as this was an outgrowth of, or at least connected with, the parish schools, preparatory departments of colleges were excluded from the inquiry, as were also academies and schools for girls only. It was felt, moreover, that the subject of our Catholic academies. and schools for girls was so large and important as to demand a special study by a committee specially selected and qualified for the task. The scope of the inquiry included, therefore, only those secondary schools which are for boys only, or which are for boys as well as girls, but it was not intended to include college preparatory departments.

A preliminary list of schools was made out by the Secretary with the aid of the Catholic Directory so as to include all parish schools which had six teachers or more, since experience had shown that a parish school which was so large as to require six teachers was likely to have more than the eight elementary grades. The list, as made out, included 1,474 schools. To these, about January 1st, the following letter of inquiry was sent :

COLUMBUS, OHIO, January 2, 1911. At the Fall meeting of the Executive Board of the Catholic Educational Association, in 1908, a Committee was appointed for the purpose of making a study of the condition of Catholic secondary education in the United States. After several reports and discussions the Committee was continued, and was authorized to enlarge its membership, so as to secure a more comprehensive

view of the situation. This was done, and the enclosed circular is addressed to you in pursuance of this purpose. It is hoped that the report of the Committee for this year may include a complete list of all Catholic secondary schools and parish schools having secondary or high school grades, and it is expected that the report will be of special interest to all those who are actually engaged in secondary school work. The Committee therefore earnestly asks your cooperation, by answering the enclosed list of questions.

We enclose a stamped envelope for your convenience in replying.

REV. JAMES A. BURNS, C. S. C., Chairman,

REV. WALTER STEHLE, O: S. B.,

REV. JAMES J. DEAN, O. S. A.,

BRO. JOHN A. WALDRON, S. M.,

REV. FRANCIS W. HOWARD, Secretary.

Please address communications to the Secretary General,

REV. FRANCIS W. HOWARD,

1651 East Main St., Columbus, Ohio.

(See list of questions on page 48.)

THE RESULTS

The letter of inquiry was thus sent to all the larger parish schools in the country. As was expected, it was found that a very large proportion of these parish schools had high school grades and were doing high school work, in addition to the work of the eight elementary grades. Of the 1,474 schools to which the letter was sent, 886 responded. Two hundred and ninety-five of these, or 33 per cent. have high school grades. If this proportion were to hold for the 588 schools that did not reply, the figures would mean that one-third of our large parish schools have high school grades. It is certain that a very large number of schools with high school grades did not reply to the letter of the Committee. Thus, in the archdiocese of Cincinnati, the latest report of the Superintendent of Schools shows that 29 of the parish schools have high school grades, while only 8 of these answered the inquiry. In the archdiocese of Philadelphia, 7 such schools reported to the Committee, but the Superintendent's report shows the existence of 11. It may be said with certainty

LIST OF QUESTIONS SENT TO SCHOOLS

STATISTICS OF CATHOLIC SECONDARY EDUCATION

1. What is the name and post-office address of the institution?

2. How many grades or years of high school work have you, above the eighth elementary grade?

3. What is the total attendance in these grades at present?

High School Years

4. How many teachers are exclusively engaged in high school work?..... How many for only part of the time?

5. Is the high school directly connected with a parish school? or, with several parish schools?

or, has it no direct connection with any parish school?

6. Has the high school any direct connection or affiliation with any Catholic college?

Is it affiliated with any non-Catholic college or state university?

7. Is the high school supported by tuition fees?

or, from the parish revenues?

or, is it endowed?

8. In the following list of subjects, which is made to include all the branches taught in the various secondary schools, please indicate by crosses (under the heading "High School Years") the respective years in which the subject in the first column is taught. If a subject is taught for only half a year, this may be indicated by putting "" in place of the cross.

Kindly return to Rev. F. W. Howard, 1651 East Main Street, Columbus, Ohio, before February 1, 1911.

that there are from 100 to 200 parish schools with high school grades from which the Committee has as yet received no report. The total number of our parish schools that have high school grades may, therefore, be safely set down as between four and five hundred.

It is evident that we are here face to face with a movement of most profound significance for the future of Catholic education in the United States. This large number of Catholic parish high schools actually in existence-between four and five hundredrepresenting every section of the country and almost every diocese, is a spontaneous growth resulting from the silent maturing development of the parish school system. It is not due to personal influence, it has not sprung from local conditions. It is simply the outcome of our general educational attitude. The parish school stands, after a hundred years of effort and sacrifice, as the necessary expression of that attitude with regard to the child. The Catholic college stands as its expression with regard to the young man. The parish high school is rising between the two as its inevitable expression in the case of the boy. It is the creation of the logic of the situation. The sons of the Irish and German immigrants of a half century ago, no longer dwell, as did their fathers, on the lowest economic levels. They can afford to give to their children at least a middle class education, and, soundly Catholic as they are, they would prefer to obtain this education under Catholic auspices. It is in answer to this condition and this appeal, that parish priests and teaching communities have been seeking to build up, grade by grade, the Catholic local high school, as the crowning and perfection, as well as the necessary complement, of the parish school. The parish. priest sees better than any one else that he cannot hold the boys of the coming generation to his parish school, if he permits indiscriminately the boys of the present to get the most important part of their education from non-Catholic hands.

This is the situation, this the condition. It is surely a matter of vital concern to this Association to know that this condition exists, and to understand thoroughly the efforts which are being put forth by the organized Catholic conscience of the community to meet it. The detailed statistics of this report will, the Com