Parochial School
Parochial School, an elementary or secondary school supported and conducted by a religious group. The word parochial refers to a parish. Strictly, a parochial school is one organized on a parish basis, but the term commonly refers to any school operated by a church or religious order. The bulk of United States parochial schools are Roman Catholic. Protestant denominations that maintain schools include the Christian Reformed Church, the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod), and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Some fundamentalist Protestant groups maintain schools to teach history, science, and other subjects in a way that agrees with the groups' interpretation of the Bible.
At one time most teachers in Roman Catholic schools were members of religious orders and received little pay beyond subsistence. As the number of Catholics willing to join orders has declined, however, lay teachers have come to predominate.
In parochial schools part of each day is devoted to religious and moral instruction. Some subjects may emphasize a church's role or point of view. In general, however, nonreligious instruction is similar to that in public schools.
Parochial schools receive some aid from the federal government for health and school-lunch programs, and some states provide free bus transportation and loan textbooks. Direct aid, such as the providing of public money for teachers' salaries, is prohibited under the First Amendment to the Constitution, which requires separation of church and state.
The Jesuits who came to Maryland in 1634 with the first settlers set up schools. In 1763 Saint Mary's Church, Philadelphia, established a parish school that became a model for others. In 1810 Mother Seton established a free school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and organized a women's religious order for teaching and charity. After 1848, with the great increase in Catholic immigration, the number of parochial schools grew rapidly. Many Catholic schools closed in the 1960's, but new Protestant parochial schools were opened in the 1970's and 1980's by groups who felt that the public schools lacked discipline and neglected moral issues.