As a freshman in high school, Marty Finn of Orland Park lucked out.
Although he didn’t know it, Finn, now 17 and a junior at Providence Catholic High School, had received a coveted prize his freshman year–the last stop on the morning bus route to the New Lenox school.
While other students rolled out of bed before dawn, Finn didn’t board his bus until 7:10 a.m.
“Yeah, I was lucky,” he smirked. “I don’t know what I would have done if the bus came at 6 a.m.”
Elizabeth Pawlicki does. The 18-year-old from Orland Park was among the first picked up on the Providence bus route her freshman year.
“You learn time-management skills pretty quickly,” the senior said. “The rides in the morning weren’t that bad. I would finish my homework. It was the hourlong rides after school that were sometimes tiring.”
With no private high school in town, Catholic families in the Orland Park and Tinley Park areas face a dilemma: Pay thousands of dollars in tuition and send their children to Catholic high school in Chicago, Burbank, Lemont or New Lenox, or enroll their kids in Andrew, Sandburg or Tinley Park High Schools, which their local tax dollars support.
Retiree and part-time consultant Carl “Buzz” Van Hecke and his wife, CeeCee, did both. Of their seven children, four attended Andrew in Tinley Park; two went to Marist High School, a Catholic boys school in Chicago; and one graduated from Sandburg in Orland Park, when the district boundary lines shifted slightly.
“We have every color school jacket in our closets,” joked Carl Van Hecke, 53, of Orland Park. “Seriously, though, it is a tough decision for many families. We told our kids, `You pick whatever high school you want and we’ll support you. But no matter where you go, you better do well.’ “
Van Hecke recalled many cold mornings watching his son wait for the Marist bus.
“It was brutal,” he said. “The bus came around 6:15. It was cold and he was standing out there on the corner in the dark, but Joe wanted to attend the University of Notre Dame, and he thought he’d have the best opportunity by attending Marist.”
Joe Van Hecke’s strategy worked, but in hindsight, Van Hecke noticed no difference in the educational quality at the three schools.
“And that’s a compliment to what Supt. (Tim) Brown and his staff are doing in District 230. All of our kids had the chance, if they wanted, to go on to college,” Van Hecke said. “It really didn’t make any difference which of the area high schools they would have attended.”
The argument for District 230 schools is strong. Students in the district scored an average 22.6 composite on the American College Test. The District 230 scores were more than a point higher than the state’s public school average and better than the 22.4 posted by students from Providence Catholic and the 22.1 composite from Brother Rice students.
At Carl Sandburg High School, the largest of the three district schools, more than 600 students took advance placement exams this year. That ranks the school among the top 120 public schools nationwide in the testing.
“Our strength is our diversity,” Sandburg Principal Jack Baldermann said. “We have something to meet the learning needs of every student. We have a rigorous college preparation curriculum, but we also have strong career and technical classes, which are a benefit to our community.”
Last November, the district also passed the largest referendum plan in state history, Baldermann said. The funds, about $40 million a building, are earmarked to completely renovate the existing high schools. Construction is slated to be completed in August 2001.
“We’re putting in state-of-the-art technology, new performing arts space, new classrooms and new fitness facilities,” he said.
Along with the improving amenities of District 230, the cost of Catholic education is another consideration for parents.
Without the cost of transportation, Brother Rice, a boys high school in Chicago, costs $4,380 this year. The tuition at Marist High School, also in Chicago, is $4,450. Mt. Assisi High School, a girls school in Lemont, is $3,800. Mother McAuley High School, all-girls in Chicago, is $4,340. Providence, coed and in New Lenox, charges $4,625, while Queen of Peace High School, all-girls in Burbank, costs $4,250 this year.
“Some parents do agonize over this decision,” said Rev. Ed Upton, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Orland Park. “In our parish, about 80 to 85 percent of the (high school) kids go to the public school. The majority of the rest go to Providence. Marist and the other schools are just too far.”
Marist President Richard Carey believes many students and their parents are willing to travel for a quality Catholic education and the family setting Catholic high schools offer.
“The development of young people during their high school years is some of the most significant they will experience in their lives. It is the foundation for their futures,” he said. “To go to Marist, students and their families make sacrifices. Our students are driven to do their best because they want to be here.”
Statistics from the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago show that more than 21,000 Catholic families are registered in the Orland Park and Tinley Park area.
In May, the archdiocese approved the addition of a third Tinley Park parish, at 175th Street and 84th Avenue, and the first new Catholic grammar school since 1966, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School, which will open in Tinley Park in the fall.
With church officials estimating an influx of an additional 3,000 to 3,500 Catholic families into the area over the next few decades, some have begun considering the need for a new Catholic high school closer to home.
According to Upton, the archdiocese is researching the option. In December, surveys circulated in parishes west of Harlem Avenue to gauge the demand for an additional Catholic high school.
“We surveyed parishioners in and around Palos Heights, Tinley Park, Orland Park and Lemont,” Upton said.
The results are due back later this month.
“We don’t just want to say, `Let’s build it and they will come,”‘ Upton said. “I do not think anyone would make a gamble like that on a project that would cost millions of dollars to build.”
Statistics show that the families are moving into the area, but Upton said the archdiocese is still trying to gauge the community’s needs.
“The question remains, is there a demand for a new Catholic high school?” he said. “We’re no longer talking about the days when you paid $150 and went to Catholic school. Families are paying $5,000 a year per student. The question is not just if people want a new school, but can they make that level of sacrifice?”
Although almost a fourth of Providence’s enrollment comes from the Orland and Tinley areas, school President Richard McGrath welcomes competition.
“Competition is good. It keeps everyone honest,” he said. “At Providence, we serve a very narrow segment of the education market, and we’re focused on giving those students the best possible college preparatory education.”
Providence, which almost closed in 1969 due to dwindling enrollment, is now at capacity. The school recently announced plans to build a $3.3 million addition to upgrade the school’s science labs, music department and art facilities starting in the fall of 2001.
“Providence Catholic is not for everyone,” McGrath said. “There are fine public schools in our neighborhood, but we provide something different. We offer a learning atmosphere focused on religious faith, values and quality academic programs. And many of our parents make great sacrifices to offer their children this opportunity.”
