Lord

The heart of the Christian community is our Triune Lord: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Geography, history, and numbers are not the heart, but probably I will type mostly on these topics. As the internet already provides many encouraging spiritual guides and discouraging contentious forums, I intend to offer neither.
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To find a parish, enter a keyword in the search box at the top left, or look through the labels and links down the right-hand column. The posts themselves follow the Blogger format of newest items on top.
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Friday, October 11, 2013

Catholic elementary schools in Nassau County

About twenty-eight Catholic elementary schools teach approximately 10,360 students in Nassau County, according to the 2013 Official Catholic Directory. Most of these schools are parish-based.  Five are regional, that is, nearby parishes support a school together or are listed as sending their students to that school.  Each of the three "private" schools is unique.  The De La Salle School, Freeport, teaches only boys and only grades 5-8.  Holy Child Academy is an independent school with higher tuition.  The St. Martin de Porres school in Uniondale is somehow linked with neighboring parishes but controlled by the Marianist Province of Meribah.
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As reported to the Directory, these elementary schools have the largest enrollment in Nassau County:  St. Agnes Cathedral, with 827 students; St. William the Abbot, 585; St. Aidan, 540; St. Anne, 540.  The approximate median enrollments are: Maria Regina, 400; Holy Family, 365; St. Joseph, 356. One parish school and one regional school reported enrollments under 230 when the OCD figures were collected.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

CCD in Nassau County parishes

CCD is a tag often given to Religious Education programs in U. S. parishes.  Shortly after the Council of Trent ended in 1563, various Catholic priests, bishops and laity attempted to improve the education of youngsters in their faith.  In Italy, the movement coalesced under the name Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.  In the 1940's in New York City, we knew it as Released Time, when public school students would travel to the Catholic school for an hour of religious instruction.  In other places, it went under the colloquialism CCD, sometimes called Religious Ed nowadays. On Long Island, the Religious Ed or CCD program is generally for youngsters attending public school.
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From the 2013 Official Catholic Directory, I calculate the number of CCD students in Nassau County as approximately 45,600 in about 68 parishes.  The largest enrollments claimed are at St. Rose of Lima (2,600), St. Frances de Chantal (2,228), and Maria Regina (2,010).  The median enrollments are around St. Thomas the Apostle (525), Holy Family (500), and Our Lady of Hope (493).  Seven parishes report fewer than 130 students.  In Nassau County, the 28 Catholic elementary schools enroll about 10,400 students.
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Hundreds of volunteer teachers staff the program, and many of these have given long years to this service. The totality of parishes providing in-service education of these teachers is hefty, but I have been unable to find on the diocesan Faith Formation website no more than a few courses.  Once upon a time, a complete list was regularly printed in the now-defunct weekly Long Island Catholic.
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The numbers given above in this post are somewhat stale, as the 2013 Official Catholic Directory sought input numbers probably more than a year ago. Also, a few parishes are listed for the exact same enrollment year after year, highly unlikely.