By Gail Wood
In addition to learning how to solve math problems, write an essay or study biology, Maureen Ramos wanted something more from the schools that teach six of her nine children.
She wanted them to learn about their Catholic faith.
And that’s why four of her children will attend Holy Family, one will continue high school at Pope John Paul II and her son will begin at Saint Martin’s University this coming school year.
“I would not send my children to a Catholic institution if it didn’t teach the fullness of the Catholic teaching,” Ramos said. “Pope John Paul does that and so does Holy Family. That is really important to us. And if they didn’t we wouldn’t send our children there.”
The Ramos are a poster family for Catholic schooling. And they’re not the exception.
“It’s fairly common,” said Megan Farrell, the advancement director at Pope John Paul II. “I’d say about 50 percent of our students are coming from the Catholic school system.”
Ramos and her husband, Michael, feel they have the best of both worlds by sending their children to a Catholic school. It’s a plus academically – the teacher-student ratio at Pope John Paul II is 14-to-1 and at Holly Family it is 10-to-1. And it’s a plus spiritually as students are taught the Bible.
“I think we tend to have a remarkable program here for kids,” Farrell said. “One of the big benefits is we’re so young, we’re small and we’re growing. There are so many opportunities for kids to find leadership roles here at school to build programs – to really be invested at an adult level in the success of their school, their teams, and their co-curricular clubs. There’s just a great deal of advantage here.”
Two of Ramos’ youngest children – Lucy and Dominic – will be entering the first grade. John will be a fourth grader and Cecilia will be a seventh grader. All will attend Holy Family, which is a school for grades kindergarten through eighth grade. Elizabeth Rose will be a junior at Pope John Paul II High School.
Her brother, Matthew, just graduated from Pope John Paul II and will attend Saint Martin’s in the fall, majoring in biology.
Nathan Ramos, the third oldest of the Ramos’ nine children, attended seminary for two years in Connecticut and has transferred to South Puget Sound Community College and plans on also attending Seattle University, a Catholic school.
On September 4, the Ramos family will take part in a regional Catholic mass at Saint Martin’s Marcus Pavilion starting at 10:30 a.m. It’s the first time this regional mass has occurred.
“I think it’s a great demonstration of the strength of Catholic schools in our south sound region,” Farrell said. “It’s a big event. We’re hoping it turns into an annual event that really solidifies, in the community, a sense of the presence of Catholic education.”
Everyone from the kindergartner at Holy Family to the senior at Saint Martin’s will be at the regional mass. The students will actually help in putting on the mass, doing the Bible readings and assisting in laity roles. Archbishop Peter Sartain will be coming down from Seattle to preach and pray.
According to a survey taken at Pope John Paul II, the reasons families give for attending a Catholic school instead of public school include four common answers. It’s because of the safe environment, small class sizes, and quality of academics. But, the number one ranking is the sharing of the Catholic faith.
The Ramos’ reasons for sending their children to Catholic schools is similar to other families. But Maureen Ramos was talking with a family who have their child enrolled at Holy Family even though they weren’t Catholic. They valued the quality of education, not the opportunity to study the Bible.
“I just assumed that everyone at Pope John Paul II was Catholic,” Ramos said. “That’s not true.”
Until 1970, Saint Martin’s had its own high school and it wasn’t until the return of Pope John Paul II a couple of years ago that the area had a Catholic high school. David Spangler, the former Saint Martin’s University President, was involved in bringing back a Catholic high school in the South Sound.
“Saint Martin’s was very interested in developing that school,” said Genevieve Chan, Saint Martin’s vice president of marketing and communications. “A lot of our board members were also involved in the formation of that school as well. For a long long time there wasn’t an option for families to pursue a Catholic education during the high school years. So, we’re very excited that Pope John Paul II is here.”
Ramos, whose husband was in the Navy for 27 years and is now a nurse at Providence St. Peter’s Hospital, homeschooled her three oldest of nine children partly because they were moving so often. And then there was the aspect of being able to teach the Bible to her children. Since moving to Olympia a year ago, the Ramos family now have the opportunity to send their children to Catholic schools.
Farrell said the advantages of attending a Catholic school over a public school include helping students find their talents.
“Our mission is centered on students in a way that ensure that students are recognized and no student falls through the cracks,” Farrell said. “They are given the attention they need to discern their skills and their gifts and they’re encouraged on a personal level to pursue those skills and to advance them.”
