Attitude is Everything

This time of year I am reminded why Tom and I love Bishop Lynch High School. I remember before Hannah's freshman year we went to a parent-hosted party that was jammed full of gung-ho parents who all "loved" Bishop Lynch. Oh, sure. These parents had to be the top 10% who never look below the surface, right? What school, Catholic or not, could merit that kind of praise?

Well, they were right. Sure there have been a few bad teachers, a few less than ideal situations. That is unavoidable. Those situations are training in making things work out ... lessons in people skills for the future. What makes this school so great? The academics are top notch but that can be found at a lot of schools. The difference is that Bishop Lynch (BL) has the most Catholic attitude I've ever seen ... and they make the kids live it.

It shows first of all in their acceptance policy. They'll pass up a straight A student with a bad discipline record for a well behaved one with a C average. If you have school aged kids, I don't have to tell you how unusual that is, especially for a college prep school that regularly turns away half the applicants for lack of space. They can have their pick and they pick character.

The first pep rally Hannah ever attended had one of those goofy contests to see which class could cheer the loudest. The freshman class cheered and then the senior class booed them as a joke. Guess what? That's not the BL way. The seniors stayed behind for a huge lecture, the class president read a letter of apology on "BL Live" (the school morning news show) the next morning, and for the next two weeks every freshman was talked to and hugged by seniors making amends for not being welcoming. That made a huge impact on the freshman class ... and on us because most people would take a little good natured booing in stride as a joke.

What brought all this to mind was the letter we received from the school yesterday. The Dean of Students was writing to compliment Hannah on her perfect conduct record for the second year running. She's a good kid but it isn't unusual to get a detention when they can be given out for unbuttoning one too many shirt buttons or wearing the wrong shoes. What is unusual is for the school to take the time to find these kids and specifically write to compliment their behavior.

These all are the sorts of things we looked for in vain at the girls' Catholic grade school. We finally decided that it was too idealistic to expect them. In this day and age, who holds to such standards of character? What a pleasure to be proven wrong.