Private school recommendations - living in Bowie and commuting to DC
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Anonymous
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Hi,
We are moving to Bowie, MD and the local schools are less than ideal. We are looking into private school options--Catholic school are okay. We will be living in Bowie and commuting to downtown DC everyday. Does anyone have any insight on great schools and/or schools to avoid that would be in Bowie or on the way into the city? We are looking for pre-k and elementary recommendations. Daycares wouldn't hurt either! Thanks so much. Feel free to email me or at jessica.c.parisi@gmail.com or reply to this thread. |
Anonymous
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I used to live in Bowie but it's been a few years. The Catholic school at St. Pius was well-regarded, but hard to get into if you were not a parishioner. I also had neighbors that sent their children to evangelical Christian schools, but I can't recall the names. I also had neighbors that sent their kids to the Key School in Annapolis, but that didn't work with our commute.
We sent our kids to a Montessori school that was just okay, but I think it sort of imploded after we left. Sorry I don't have more recommendations. This is basically why we left Bowie, which is otherwise lovely. Maybe there are more options that came up since we left. I will say that, depending on where you are in Bowie, the public E.S. were okay. |
Anonymous
A lot of the public ES in Bowie are great and are just as good/better than the private options. |
Anonymous
| i am in crofton, which is on the east border of bowie. the popular private school around here is SOTI school of the incarnation. the young school is a daycare/pre-k in gambrills that is very good but has a waitlist. you can join the crofton area mommies playgroup on facebook and see lots of posts on privates in the area. good luck! |
Anonymous
| You can try Holy Trinity in Bowie but to be honest, I wasn't impressed but there are many families who think that's the cream of the crop. What area in DC do you work? U live in Upper Marlboro and my kids go to a private in DC. |
Anonymous
We would be by the Giant in Bowie off of 301 and we will be commuting to the L'enfant Plaza area. I did see Montessori International in Annapolis, and it seems like they may have a bus that picks up in Bowie, but we wouldn't use that option before Kindergarten. |
Anonymous
The local elementary school is Pointer Ridge. Do you have any insight on that school? The numbers didn't seem great. |
Anonymous
The prices for private schools in DC have just seemed way to expensive, but maybe I am not looking at all of the options! I am open to that idea! We would be commuting to the L'enfant Plaza area. |
Anonymous
I have heard positive things through the grape vine but I don't have any first hand experience. It is an EGATE school so they likely focus a lot on the high achieving students. IMO it is worth trying out before paying money to go to a private school. It seems like it is a smaller school (~350 kids) and seriously under enrolled (50% capacity). I know there has been a lot of discussions about moving boundaries for Bowie schools. You might try to reach out to the PTA to see if they can provide any feedback. |
Anonymous
For the prices of some of the ones in PG County, you're only getting a step up from public school. For example, Holy Trinity charges a $1,000 registration fee (not included in tuition). |
Anonymous
We live in Bowie and toured Holy Trinity and were not impressed. It reminded me of a DC charter school or Semi-selective public school. As someone mentioned, HT is (or was) highly regarded in this area and I just don’t get it. |
Anonymous
Agreed. You can go public if you are considering Holy Trinity. |
Anonymous
My coworker sent her daughter to HT and was not impressed. She actually had a really bad experience. Honestly, OP, try the public school. I was in the same situation as you- I had reservations about the public school in my part of the county. I tried the nearby Catholic preschool and another small private and had a bad experience at both- in the end I sent dd to our neighborhood school and it was excellent. The private schools are nothing to write home about and if everyone considered the public schools their first resort they would be so much better and the “numbers” (which are next to meaningless btw) would be better. |
Anonymous
That's so funny to see the Montessori International (aka MICH) name here on DCUM! It's a tiny school and most DCUM people don't know anything about Annapolis area schools. My kids went there for primary and we loved it. For various reasons they didnt' stay for grade school, but they have some friends who are still there who are happy with it. As a school, I don't hesitate to recommend it. BUT.... that would make your life really scattered geographically. MICH is east of Annapolis, so to get there you have to deal with traffic on 50 heading towards the Chesapeake Bay. I could see living in Bowie and going to MICH if you worked somewhere in Anne Arundel, but the logistics of you heading one direction and the kids heading another gives me a headache. And if you have a sick kid or something it will be a long commute until you can get to school to pick up the child. It may be worth it for you guys, but definitely make sure you understand the distances before making that decision, I have a dear friend with kids at St Mathhews in Bowie for preschool and K and loved it. |
Anonymous
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School of the Incarnation in Gambrills is great, but it would add to your commute because it’s in more or less the opposite direction from DC.
St. Pius X is much closer, and given that their “openings” sign stays up all year does not seem likely to be hard to get into. It is a good school for average to slightly perhaps above average students. Really smart kids will have a lot of time on their hands, at least in the lower grades. |