GRANITE CITY - Holy Family and St. Elizabeth Catholic schools in Granite City will host coordinated open houses Sept. 16-17 to allow the public the opportunity to see first-hand the learning environment at each location.

"We want the community to know that we are here, that we are proud to have educated the area's students for nearly 50 years, and that our graduates are excelling in high school and in life in general," said Marge Pennell, principal of Holy Family School. "This is an opportunity for the public to see the job we have done."

In July 2006, the National Center for Education Statistics released a report that compared the learning levels of grade 4 and grade 8 private and public school students. Even after removing any perceived or actual socioeconomic benefit of a private vs. public school student, the fourth-grade private school students scored 4.5 points higher in math, and the eighth-grade private school students scored 7.8 points higher in reading, than did their counterparts in the public schools.

Pennell believes those statistics are extremely conservative. "A large percentage of our eighth grade graduates finish public high school in the top 10 percent of their class," said Pennell. "Our Christian-based, focused learning environment is the key to our success."

Karen Jakich, principal of St. Elizabeth School, agrees. "Our Catholic schools develop the whole student: a moral and ethical individual, as well as focused teaching in all of the primary subjects. We are proud of our students and proud of our teachers, and want the community to know what a tremendous asset we have in St. Elizabeth School and Holy Family School," said Jakich.

Nearly one-quarter of the schools' current combined enrollment of approximately 400 students are not Catholic. This mirrors a national trend of more and more non-Catholics attending private schools in an effort to have a safe and focused learning environment. Typically, the teacher to student ratio is much lower at the parochial schools than at the public schools.

Pennell applauds the cooperative effort that she sees with the public school system. "We commend the job that the Granite City School District does in handling the state and federal programs and in providing us assistance whenever we ask," said Pennell. "We are all in the business of providing the best education we can to our community's future leaders. The school district is most gracious always."

The open house at St. Elizabeth School, located at 2300 Pontoon Road (the corner of Johnson and Pontoon roads), will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 16, immediately following the 10:30 a.m. Mass at the church. A book sale is being held in the cafeteria as part of the open house events.

The open house at Holy Family School, located at 1900 St. Clair Ave., will begin at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17. Tours of each of the school buildings and gymnasiums will be given.