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I went to catholic school until 8th grade but went to public high school. I guess you could say it did affect my participation and views in and of the catholic church. In my honest opinion, for the better. I was exposed to more diversity and more realistic life experiences. I was able to see the rigidity of the catholic church and the unfair treatment and lack of acceptance of different lifestyles even though my peers were really good people (I'm referencing peers being gay kn high school).
I feel like I have a much broader view of things...whether that's just age or getting out of catholic school, I'm not sure.

Not catholic, but I was very involved in our church and attended public high. In fact my parents wanted me to switch for high to a local catholic school but because I had forged a group of good friends, they let me go to public. I think its all about the community you surround your child with.

@meredithNYC: so that's an interesting twist. Under typical circumstances, I would say that the diversity offered by the public school experience would trump any benefit that catholic school would have on your children's religious experience, particularly since you can still be a very involved Catholic by attending church, CCD and participating in the parish community. I guess my opinion is altered slightly if Catholic school is the more diverse option. Even if the public schools are great, the student population in that town is going to be fairly homogenous across all categories. Tough decision.

On the flip side, except for 3 years of high school, I went to a Catholic school from 1st grade through college and I am really not that involved in the church. As in, I go to mass on Christmas Eve, weddings and funerals. I definitely have my reasons for this that are probably complicated. However, I do love that I had all of that Catholic schooling as it really did help me develop who I am as a person and what my beliefs are, even if some of them don't match the Catholic beliefs. I feel like I got burned out by having to go to mass all of the time and take many, many religious classes.

I struggle with this a little too as our public school system is fantastic. It's one of the reasons we moved here and are ok paying higher taxes. Therefore, I don't see the need to spend extra to send them through the Catholic schools. But I struggle with how to give my kids that religious background since I don't really want to go through it again but I know I'm setting bad example. This is something that DH and I still need to figure out.

I was raised Catholic and went to public schools through university. My family is mostly Sicilian, so in many ways, it was more of a nod to our heritage and part of honoring old family traditions. It was evident on holidays, woven into our traditions, and in regards to annual feasts, etc.

I fell away from Catholicism as an older teen, and although I still attended mass on the major holidays with my family, I wasn't involved or invested. I am not sure if it had any relation to attending public school, but perhaps due to the very liberal environment where we lived, and where I eventually attended college. I started to question the Church's position on some social issues and eventually just distanced myself, entirely.

We've been attending an Episcopal Church for nearly two years, now. We attend on Sundays, DD goes to nursery, and we just joined a fellowship group that meets monthly for shared meals and friendship. While not Catholic, it's a very similar experience, and feels familiar.

That being said, our DD (and any future LO's) will either attend public or charter school. We live in an amazing district and frankly, would not likely be able to afford private schooling without substantial scholarship. They're $$$, here!

There are a lot of wonderful resources available that encourage liturgical living - crafts, meals, holiday traditions, feast days - that you can adopt in your own home. I'm confident you can create a feeling of community and faith with or without private, Catholic schooling.

I hated CCD! My experience is probably a lot more old school than CCD today, but I will share anyhow. I hated having to go after school (felt like detention), and hated that it was taught by a mean nun instead of a friendly school teacher. It was a tiny group of kids so the nun really got facetime with each and every kid. When big events happen (first communion, confirmation, etc.) you attend events and classes with the Catholic school kids, who stare at you for not being a part of their group. So as a little kid I hated it, but I think it also depends on how large the CCD group is, who teaches it, and its overall feeling (mine was beat you with a ruler old school and I deplored it).

We are sending our littles to Catholic elementary because its reasonably priced where we live, but possibly public high because private high school is $$,$$$/yr.