Profile in Faith: Laura and Brian Cooper

Laura and Brian Cooper are active, faithful Catholics who decided to transfer their three children from parochial to public schools.

Emily, 11, Gabrielle, 8, and Christopher, 6, started in Our Lady of Good Counsel parish school in Moorestown, but soon made the shift. The family's decision, said Laura, 42, a wholesale mortgage lender, was based on such factors as diversity, curriculum, extracurricular activities and finances.

The couple already had settled on public high school for their children when that day came. "We knew that we weren't going to send them to Catholic high school, for financial reasons," said Laura. "We just started really researching it and decided, well, if we're going to do it in high school," why not also in the elementary grades?

"The public school system can satisfy all of our children's needs," she said. But "the other thing is, it's just part of the community. ... Most people in Moorestown do utilize the public school system. It's a Blue Ribbon school. We pay a lot in taxes."

While Laura stressed the importance of her children's involvement in the parish, she said she believes "that as far as religious education and bringing up children in a Catholic environment, that does come from the home. You can't teach that in a school."

What the public system offers them is social diversity, as well as smaller class sizes, she said. "The Catholic school probably averages 30 kids per class."

She and her husband are happy with the decision, she said. And "the money that we're saving now, we can put toward the kids' college."

Laughing, she added, "I do miss the uniform. ... It made my life so much easier."

- Paul Nussbaum