April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
LONG COMMUTES
The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round to get students to far-away Catholic schools
It's not uncommon for students to commute long distances to get to Catholic schools in the Albany Diocese. State law requires school districts to provide transportation for children within 15 miles of the non-public schools their families choose; outside of that radius, schools get creative.
For example, St. Thomas the Apostle School in Delmar sends buses 20 miles southeast to St. John the Baptist parish in Greenville and 24 miles south to a restaurant in Coxsackie to pick up students. There will be 29 students on those buses this year. The school and the diocesan Catholic Schools Office cover the costs.
St. Thomas is the farthest south Catholic school before the Archdiocese of New York, so many families from rural towns in Greene and Columbia Counties send their children there. The school has held open houses at St. John the Baptist parish.
Worth it
"We try to do a lot of outreach throughout the areas of the Diocese that don't have Catholic schools," said Carmel Foltan, director of enrollment. "There are a lot of different reasons why parents wanted different opportunities. They really want a faith-based education."
Theresa Donlon, who lives in Greenville, has sent three of her children to St. Thomas since last year. They were straight-A students in public schools, and "all I had to do was open the door and send them to the end of the driveway," she said.
But "one thing I felt they were painfully missing was God at the center of everything," Mrs. Donlon continued. "I prayed on this because it was a sacrifice and it wasn't as convenient. But it's what we do."
Mrs. Donlon drives her children four miles to the bus pickup site, and the children then take a half-hour ride to school. Mary, a seven-year-old who's going into second grade, says the bus is "kind of noisy" and "really small," but "fun - I play with my friends."
Mary prefers St. Thomas over the public school she had been attending "because they have Mass and religion. We can learn more. Some people say that it's silly that we think about God. Some people don't believe in God, but I like learning about God."
Her mother is thrilled that students attend Mass on holy days and the first Friday of the month. "I don't think you can put a price" on being immersed in Catholic culture, she said.
AHN's experience
The Academy of the Holy Names, a private, all-girls Catholic school in Albany, sends a bus up the Northway to transport 15 to 20 students from Clifton Park and Saratoga Springs. Parents pay an additional fee on top of tuition for this service.
Overall, about 300 girls in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade come from as far away as Cobleskill, Stillwater, Taconic Hills and New Lebanon. Some students get rides from parents; some take city buses. The majority are transported by school districts.
"They come from some distances because they value Catholic education," said Mary Anne Vigliante, head of school at AHN. "Their parents make a pretty significant choice. There's definitely a lack of Catholic schools in many of those areas. We provide a college preparatory education, lots of extracurricular activities, lots of sports activities. There's a huge advantage."
Colleen Guarino has sent her daughters to AHN from Saratoga for seven years; her son also commuted to Christian Brothers Academy in Albany on a CBA bus. She says those schools' Northway buses are getting more crowded.
Will travel
"I think people are starting to realize what the value is," Mrs. Guarino said. "[If] you want quality education, you do what you have to do. My husband and I both feel it's the best investment you can make. The girls are on the bus with just girls from their school. There's just one stop. There are kids in our school district that are on for even longer than 40 minutes."
Giovanni Virgiglio, principal at St. Mary's Institute in Amsterdam, said Catholic schools no longer follow a neighborhood model. In the past five or six years, St. Mary's enrollment has expanded from exclusively Montgomery County children to include Fulton County residents, too.
"We're finding that more and more students are willing to travel for a Catholic education," Mr. Virgiglio said. "We provide such a unique education that parents are not only willing to sacrifice in terms of tuition, but also in gas mileage."[[In-content Ad]]
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