Reasons families opt for St. Jerome’s over Hyattsville Elementary

[Anonymous]

Hello we are approaching time to enroll our little one into K. We are new to Hyattsville and inbound for HES but also have heard that a lot of families send their child to St Jerome’s.

We are not Catholic and a Christian education is not a priority for us. St. Jerome’s tuition also is not significant to our family.

Considering that, is there any reason to choose one school over the other?

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of families in Hyattsville that are very Catholic so many purposely move there to go to SJA.

[Anonymous]

I've lived in Hyattsville for many, many years. The vast majority of people I have known who have sent their kids to SJA identify strongly as Catholic and want a Catholic education for their children. I'm sure not all SJA students, but all the families I know with kids at SJA have at least some connection to Catholicism.

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard the waitlist is long and parish members get first choice so I’m not even sure it’s an issue for you op.

[Anonymous]

SJA is known as a place for very conservative Catholics. There was an NPR article about it several years ago (link below). Not saying don’t send your kid there, but it is something you should be aware of. I wouldn’t think of it as a choice between public and run of the mill private, SJA is a very intentional Catholic education/community.

https://www.npr.org/2017/04/10/522714982/catholics-build-intentional-community-of-like-minded-believers

[Anonymous]

Catholics were encouraged to move to Hyattsville and create their own community—mostly apart from the rest of the community.

From NPR:

“The tightness of the Hyattsville Catholic community developed deliberately, not accidentally. The key figure in its growth was Chris Currie, a former nonprofit executive who moved to Hyattsville 20 years ago and now serves as director of institutional advancement at the parish school.

"It started with me inviting people I knew to come here," he says. "My sister's family was the first to move here, followed by a couple of friends. Other families came here to become part of the foundation, and then by word of mouth people heard about it and came here because of the heightened community life."


So I don’t know if you’ll have a choice. You might prefer Friends Community School if you have the funds to pay the tuition.

[Anonymous]

Thanks this is all very helpful

[Anonymous]

I didn’t think I was opposed to Catholic school (I’m not Catholic) but everything I’ve learned about St Jerome’s says it’s too conservative and too mis-aligned with our family values. Which is obviously their prerogative, but it definitely seems like a school meant to be Catholic and not Catholics going out to have a school, if that makes any sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello we are approaching time to enroll our little one into K. We are new to Hyattsville and inbound for HES but also have heard that a lot of families send their child to St Jerome’s.

We are not Catholic and a Christian education is not a priority for us. St. Jerome’s tuition also is not significant to our family.

Considering that, is there any reason to choose one school over the other?

I would start at Hyattsville Elementary and see how it goes. If you want to do private for K and aren't religious/socially conservative, I would look at the Friends School in College Park.
St Ambrose in Cheverly is "Catholic Light" if that's something you are interested in.

[Anonymous]

Just echoing the "very conservative" part of the St. Jerome's community. I actually haven't heard of any non-Catholic families choosing St. Jerome's over HES actually.

[Anonymous]

One reason is that some people don't want their kids to go to school with lower income people.
There are a lot of Hispanic students and other immigrant working class people at Hyattsville ES.
I think that is a net positive but not everyone has that opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One reason is that some people don't want their kids to go to school with lower income people.
There are a lot of Hispanic students and other immigrant working class people at Hyattsville ES.
I think that is a net positive but not everyone has that opinion.

That’s a rather broad, simplistic assertion applicable to all public schools.

What’s more accurate is that families go to St. Jerome Academy because they are Catholic and/or because of the Catholic liberal arts curriculum. NOT because it is an alternative to HES.

SJA also has a waitlist which is pretty rare for a Catholic schools these days. So it’s just not a backup school and those who get on the waitlist are very intentional on wanting their kids to go to SJA.

Another Catholic school nearby if OP is interested (with no waitlists) is Holy Redeemer in addition to St. Ambrose in Cheverly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SJA is known as a place for very conservative Catholics. There was an NPR article about it several years ago (link below). Not saying don’t send your kid there, but it is something you should be aware of. I wouldn’t think of it as a choice between public and run of the mill private, SJA is a very intentional Catholic education/community.

https://www.npr.org/2017/04/10/522714982/catholics-build-intentional-community-of-like-minded-believers

[Anonymous]

Holy Redeemer is quickly becoming just as conservative as St. Jerome’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard the waitlist is long and parish members get first choice so I’m not even sure it’s an issue for you op.

+1