Every spring, Tulsa families sit down and make one of the most significant decisions of their child's educational journey. Some are making the move from public school for the first time. Others are re-evaluating where their child is and whether it's the right fit. All of them are asking some version of the same question: what does a private school education actually give my child that they can't get somewhere else?
It's a fair question — and the answer matters. At Monte Cassino Catholic School, a Benedictine Pre-K through 8th grade school serving families across Tulsa since 1926, we've seen every kind of family walk through our doors. Here's what the ones who stay tend to say they were looking for.
They Wanted Their Child to Be Known, Not Just Enrolled
The single most common reason Tulsa families choose private education isn't a curriculum or a sports program. It's the feeling that their child will actually be seen.
In larger school environments, it's easy for a student to get lost — especially during the middle school years, when the gap between a struggling student and a thriving one can quietly widen without anyone noticing. Private schools in Tulsa tend to offer smaller class sizes precisely to prevent that.
At Monte Cassino, the student-to-teacher ratio is 8:1, with an average class size of just 17. That's not a marketing number — it's what makes it possible for a teacher to notice when a student is disengaged, to push a student who isn't being challenged, and to build the kind of relationship that makes school feel like a place a child belongs.
Parents describe this as the thing they didn't fully expect but now can't imagine living without.
They Were Looking for Academics That Actually Prepare Kids
Strong academics are the baseline expectation for any private school in Tulsa. But what families often discover is that not all academic rigor looks the same.
At Monte Cassino, rigorous means more than harder homework. The middle school Honors Program, world language offerings in French, Latin, and Spanish, and the new Benedictine Lead Institute create an academic environment that builds critical thinkers — students who know how to ask good questions, research independently, and communicate clearly.
The results show up on paper: 81% of Monte Cassino's 8th graders were recognized as PreACT Rising Stars, with one in three placing in the top 15% of students nationally. And when it's time to move on, Monte Cassino graduates are accepted to their first-choice high school 100% of the time.
For families comparing private schools in Tulsa, those numbers are hard to ignore.
They Wanted Values Embedded in the Education — Not Bolted On
For many Tulsa families, the decision to choose a private school is partly about academics and partly about something harder to quantify: the values and culture their child is immersed in every day.
At Monte Cassino, that culture is shaped by the eight Benedictine values — community, hospitality, stewardship, respect for persons, love of learning, prayer, work, and integrity. These aren't aspirational language on a website. They're the operating principles of a school that has been putting them into practice for nearly a century.
The Benedictine Sisters who founded Monte Cassino in 1926 still live on campus at St. Joseph Monastery. Their presence is a daily reminder that this school was built for something larger than test scores. Faith formation, service, and moral development are woven into the school day — not cordoned off into a single religion class.
Families from five different religious backgrounds choose Monte Cassino precisely because this kind of values-based education isn't exclusionary. It's formational. It helps children understand who they are and how they want to show up in the world.
They Wanted Service and Leadership Built Into the Experience
One pattern families notice quickly at Monte Cassino: the school doesn't wait until high school to develop leaders.
Service is built into the curriculum from the earliest grades through Monte Cares, the school's community engagement program. The signature project is the sixth-grade Angel Tree fundraiser, in which students raise money for the Salvation Army entirely through their own efforts — raking leaves, running bake sales, hosting events, selling handmade goods. In a recent year, 51 sixth-graders raised over $12,000.
That's not an extracurricular. That's a real leadership exercise with a real outcome for real families in Tulsa. Students learn to set goals, manage a team, handle setbacks, and see the direct impact of their effort on the community around them.
These are exactly the skills Tulsa families say they're hoping their child will develop — and at Monte Cassino, they happen in 6th grade, not college.
They Wanted Athletics and Activities That Build the Whole Child
Education at Monte Cassino extends well beyond the classroom. With 14 competitive sports programs and a full calendar of arts and extracurricular activities, students have genuine opportunities to find their strengths, challenge themselves, and develop the kind of discipline that doesn't come from a textbook.
Recent highlights include the track team earning 16 first-place finishes and 30 personal records at the Diocese Track Meet, a golf team competing at LaFortune and Page Belcher, and an academic bowl team winning the Regional Championship.
A student recently earned the USTA Sportsmanship Award for a five-state region in tennis — a recognition that reflects not just athletic ability, but the kind of character Monte Cassino works to develop in every student.
They Wanted a Community That Includes the Whole Family
The last thing families consistently mention when describing why they chose Monte Cassino over other private schools in Tulsa is the community — and how quickly it felt like home.
Students come from 40 different zip codes across the Tulsa metro, which means Monte Cassino draws from a wide range of neighborhoods and backgrounds while remaining deeply personal. Every student is known. Every family has a place.
The school supports families through Monte After Care, summer Camp Monte, school counseling, and a robust extracurricular calendar. Parent involvement is genuinely welcomed and consistently high.
That sense of belonging is especially important during the middle school years — a time when students are figuring out who they are and where they fit. At Monte Cassino, that question gets answered in a community built on mutual respect, shared values, and nearly 100 years of trust.
What Monte Cassino Graduates Carry With Them
The long-term proof of any private school is what its graduates actually do.
Former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating graduated from Monte Cassino's middle school in 1958. The same Benedictine values that shaped his education are alive at the school today. More recently, a Monte Cassino student won first place in the Oklahoma Bar Association's statewide Law Day essay contest. Another qualified to represent Oklahoma at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. A sixth-grader designed a flag formally proposed for adoption by the City of Owasso.
These aren't anomalies. They're what happens when a school takes every student seriously.
Is Monte Cassino the Right Fit for Your Family?
Choosing among private schools in Tulsa comes down to fit — the right academics, the right community, the right values for your child and your family.
If you're looking for a school where your child will be known by name, challenged to grow, shaped by strong values, and sent into high school genuinely prepared — Monte Cassino is worth a visit.
Schedule a campus tour today and see for yourself what nearly 100 years of private school education in Tulsa looks like up close.
📍 2206 South Lewis Ave., Tulsa, OK 74114 📞 (918) 742-3364 🌐 montecassino.org/admissions/tour-campus
