For the 587th time, a larger area doesn’t give Catholic schools an advantage. In Kettering around 2,500 kids go to Fairmont. Around 200 go to Alter. Around 80 go to Carroll. (I’m guessing at the numbers, but the relative numbers are pretty accurate, I believe.)
Around 2,500 kids go to Centerville. Around 250 go to Alter. There is no Catholic high school in Centerville.
Alter has about 580 students in 4 grades. Most come from public school districts that contain no Catholic schools. Many kids ride buses in the morning for an hour. They have to get transportation to their homes that are a good distance from school, because they don’t live in Kettering, if they are involved in extracurricular activities like football.
Alter costs over $10,000 per year, plus pay to play, plus other costs with very limited financial aid.
How is any of that an advantage?
Several years ago, I was at Alter’s liftathon. A very large, well-dressed, Black man was standing alone. I introduced myself to him and asked which player was his son. He showed me his son, a freshman. He told me he worked in a public school, but he pointed to Coach Domsitz. The man said Coach was the reason his son was at Alter. Coach, he said, takes no crap and doesn’t change what he does to satisfy parents. The man wanted that kind of disciplined program for his son, because his son would need self discipline in his life. He didn’t mention anything about football success. He said the cost was difficult, but worth it to him.
Now, THAT’s an advantage. It’s old school values. That family is now a lifetime part of the Alter family. That young man became a starter on the team and earned a D1 college scholarship. To the outside world, some might have thought he was recruited to Alter as a football player. His father made a choice all on his own. He was not on anybody’s radar before he showed up at school with his Dad. It wasn’t first about football, but about life skills.