<P> Most Catholic elementary schools tend to be smaller than their public counterparts, and it is not unusual for such schools to have only one teacher and classroom per grade level . Additionally, grade levels often separated between grammar and middle schools (in the public schools) are generally not separated in Catholic schools; thus a student may attend the same school from kindergarten or first grade through eighth grade . One other major difference is that in most parts of the country, public schools provide bus service to their students, while Catholic schools rarely do . </P> <P> Catholic schools in the United States accept students of all religions, ethnic backgrounds, and ability . More competitive Catholic secondary schools tend to have tighter academic requirements and / or an entrance exam . It is a common expectation that non-Catholic students take religion classes and attend the spiritual exercises of the school . Many schools have a policy (sometimes written) banning proselytizing in any form . </P> <P> The United States had 7,498 Catholic schools in 2006 - 07, including 6,288 elementary schools and 1,210 secondary schools . In total there were 2,320,651 students, including 1,682,412 students in the elementary / middle schools and 638,239 in high schools . Enrollment in the nation's Catholic schools has steadily dropped to less than half of its peak at five million students 40 years ago, The New York Times reported in early 2009 . At its peak in 1965, the number of U.S. parochial schools was more than 12,000, and roughly half of all Catholic children in America attended Catholic elementary schools, according to the National Catholic Educational Association . The same share in 2009 is about 15 percent . Among Latinos, the fastest - growing church group--soon to comprise a majority of Catholics in the United States--it is three percent . The article also reported on "dozens of local efforts" to turn the tide, including by the Archdiocese of Chicago and Washington, and dioceses in Memphis and Wichita, Kansas, as well as in the New York metro area . </P> <P> Heavily Protestant in the 19th century, most states passed a state constitutional amendment, referred to as the Blaine Amendment, forbidding tax money be used to fund parochial schools, a possible outcome of heavy immigration from Catholic Ireland after the 1840s . In 2002, the United States Supreme Court partially vitiated these amendments, in theory, when they ruled that vouchers were constitutional if tax dollars followed a child to a school, even if it were religious . However, no state had, by 2009, changed its laws to allow this . </P>

Number of catholic high schools in the united states