"Cathedral Schools"

[Anonymous]

Beauvoir calls itself "Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think that is why you hear folks say "Cathedral Schools," not "Cathedral School."

The usage isn't all that common outside of this board, which was sort of the point. In my 40+ years here, Cathedral has always meant NCS only. That said, I recognize that not everyone has been in DC as long as I have.

The "Cathedral schools" is, in fact, common outside of this board. It's used by many in our community. The schools don't just share the close, they are also all legal subsidiaries of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. So the phrase is short-hand for all 3 educational instiutions under that umbrella.

That said, if you say only "Cathedral" and not "Cathedral schools," then you are in fact refering to NCS alone.

I think the point of OP is that the high schools (NCS and STA) offer a single gender (not coed) edcuation experience. As some have noted, single gender schools offer some limited cross registration, but the schools are not coed. I don't think anyone would dispute that a single gender education experience is quite different from a coed experience (though I have no doubt we could generate quite a thread on which is "better") The simple truth is that one of these approachs (coed or single gender) is better for YOUR child. As a parent you have to figure out which approach works best for YOUR child. There is little value in trying to convince someone else of what is best for THEIR child.

[Anonymous]

I don't get OPs point or why she cares. No one has ever said they are co-ed schools. Hence the plural -- schools. But they do come under the auspices of the Cathedral, so they are Cathedral schools. And they have a closer relationship than any other single sex schools in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get OPs point or why she cares. No one has ever said they are co-ed schools. Hence the plural -- schools. But they do come under the auspices of the Cathedral, so they are Cathedral schools. And they have a closer relationship than any other single sex schools in the area.

Hard to understand why people care that much. That said, I must say that I could not imagine a Saint Albans boy saying "I went to the Cathedral Schools" instead of "I went to Saint Albans." All of those schools have outstanding reputations, but, make no mistake, Saint Albans has a brand value far in excess of NCS -- as reflected by their respective alumni lists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get OPs point or why she cares. No one has ever said they are co-ed schools. Hence the plural -- schools. But they do come under the auspices of the Cathedral, so they are Cathedral schools. And they have a closer relationship than any other single sex schools in the area.

Hard to understand why people care that much. That said, I must say that I could not imagine a Saint Albans boy saying "I went to the Cathedral Schools" instead of "I went to Saint Albans." All of those schools have outstanding reputations, but, make no mistake, Saint Albans has a brand value far in excess of NCS -- as reflected by their respective alumni lists.

Huh? "Brand?" Ick ick ick. Having gone to NCS and knowing tons of STA grads, I can't say that a single one of them feels their school had a "brand value far in excess" of my school.

[Anonymous]

This is a ridulous post. I have kids at two of the schools on the Close and when people ask me where my kids are in school, I say at the Cathedral Schools. If my older daughter were to answer where she is in school she would say at NCS. However, no one can argue with the fact that those families on the Close and even those in the surrounding community refer to them as the Cathedral Schools. And who has ever referred to STA and NCS as coed. I have never heard that.

[Anonymous]

The “Cathedral Schools” label is just slang that reflects the close relationship of the schools. There is 0% chance the High T dads of St. Albans would allow the emasculation of their High T sons – which is the inevitable outcome (if not raison d'être) at coed private schools in the area.

[Anonymous]

Um, the Head of admission at StA likes to say "We are a single sex school on a co-ed campus"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, the Head of admission at StA likes to say "We are a single sex school on a co-ed campus"

Which is not at all the same thing as referring to STA as a coed school.

And this statement is correct, BTW. They are single sex schools. And they share a campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, the Head of admission at StA likes to say "We are a single sex school on a co-ed campus"

Which is not at all the same thing as referring to STA as a coed school.

And this statement is correct, BTW. They are single sex schools. And they share a campus.

Which is not to suggest that each school doesn't have it's own wonderful facilities -- they just all happen to be on the expansive grounds of the National Cathedral. They don't have a golf course like prep, but the campuses aren't cramped like other DC schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, the Head of admission at StA likes to say "We are a single sex school on a co-ed campus"

Which is not at all the same thing as referring to STA as a coed school.

And this statement is correct, BTW. They are single sex schools. And they share a campus.

Which is not to suggest that each school doesn't have it's own wonderful facilities -- they just all happen to be on the expansive grounds of the National Cathedral. They don't have a golf course like prep, but the campuses aren't cramped like other DC schools.

NCS and STA share the 57 acre Cathedral Close with other cathedral facilities, but the 57 acres far exceeds other schools in DC such as Sidwell (15 acres), Maret (?) and GDS (10 acres). Georgetown Visitation is the only one close (45 acres). Land cost is an issue for newer schools -- then there's Georgetown Prep with 90 acres right on the Metro that allowed them to work out a $888 million ground lease without giving up the golf course.

[Anonymous]

Holton is on 57 acres.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holton is on 57 acres.

The schools like Holton & Landon that moved out to the suburbs (what was to believed to be way far out at the time) had the good fortune of having affluent communites spring up around them (though not as lucky as Prep and AHC, which had a metro stop placed at their door step). For Holton & Landon though it's a mixed blessing because the high powered neighbors fight every effort to expand -- so, even if they wanted to, they couldn't monetize the real estate gold mine that they are sitting on (as Prep did).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, the Head of admission at StA likes to say "We are a single sex school on a co-ed campus"

Which is not at all the same thing as referring to STA as a coed school.

And this statement is correct, BTW. They are single sex schools. And they share a campus.

The coordinate program is far more robust than any of the other local single-sex schools, because of the greater ease of the shared campus. Our Holton/Landon family friends confirm that there are functionally no real co-Ed classes. At STA/NCS, all junior year English classes are co-Ed; most Upper School Electives are co-Ed; some of the languages are co-Ed all thru Upper School; music and drama prograMs are joint; and teams like cross-country and swimming train together. But the core ethos at both schools is still single-sex.

[Anonymous]

With regard to NCS vs STA, think about this year's early admission results --

STA: Harvard (5), Yale (4), Dartmouth (3), Princeton (1).

NCS: Dartmouth (1), Penn (3).

So while they're both great, great schools, and the college results for classes will differ from year to year, and -- importantly -- other STA and NCS students may get into these schools during the normal admission process, there does seem to be a difference in early college admission results.