OLGC v. St Mark's Vienna

[sarina22]

This year I will graduate from law school and will likely be moving to Vienna to make the commute to DC firm more doable. My L/O will be in 4th grade next year. Are OLGC and St Marks in Vienna comparable schools? Grateful to hear from anyone who is willing to describe their experience, or other recommendations for Catholic schools in the area.

[Anonymous]

I can't compare them, but my son goes to O'Connell and has friends that went to St. Mark's and attend church there.

It is a very warm and welcoming parish community.
I had a chance to talk to the school principal at an event and it sounded like she was a very humble and kind person who appreciated the input of the parents that trusted her with their students.

Not sure if she is still there, but if I were making a choice, I'd go there. I also liked the facilities (as a CYO basketball mom-which is about everyone).

[Anonymous]

They are similar. OLGC is larger and more well established because it has been around longer. OLGC is mostly Vienna kids. St Mark is Vienna, Oakton, and some Reston/Fairfax. St Mark’s principal is lovely. Incredibly committed to the school and wellbeing of everyone, particularly during the past two years, which have been challenging due to the pandemic. Both schools have full enrollments, so I would apply to both and see who might have a spot for next year.

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard St Marks is rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Any current feedback on these schools?

[Anonymous]

Also little help here but my kids have played CYO sports against both schools for many years and now attend high school with kids from both schools. Both seem like wonderful school environments. I think your decision will come down to the house you find.

[Anonymous]

We transferred to OLGC during Covid and our oldest child was close in age to yours. It was the kind of thing where we thought it would be fine but have been shocked at how much our children LOVE it. We were also surprised at the academic rigor, which is considerably more than our oldest’s previous (top rated) FCPS school. Lastly, it’s such a great community. We could never leave.

Regarding the comparison to St. Mark, I don’t know much about it other than the fact that they were not fully open and in person during the 2021-2022 school year due to Covid.

OLGC killed it with their approach to Covid. We have a very committed school nurse who was actually honored by Washingtonian magazine as one of the top area nurses during Covid. To say that this woman has her shit together is an understatement.

After all that, here are the things I wish were different: (1) the school principal is incredible and she is leaving at the end of the school year. I’m very concerned about the potential impact of this, as are many other parents. I’ve never seen a community love a principal so much and I just hope whoever takes over is able to keep things as great as they see. (2) I wish the class sizes were smaller - they are on par with public. And (3) it sure does seem like these kids are out of school a lot. There are many half days, in service days, etc. I suspect this might be a diocese thing and not specific to OLGC but I’m not sure.

Good luck. There is a very active Vienna moms group on Facebook and a lot of moms there can give you more guidance about both schools.

[Anonymous]

Oops! I meant 2020-2021 school year regarding St. Mark!

[Anonymous]

St Mark was open and in-person for the 20-21 school year. Due to space constraints, not all grades could be 6 feet apart. The principal gave the parents the option of middle schoolers going every day 3 feet apart or every other day 6 feet apart. The parents chose 6 feet apart until March.

[Anonymous]

I can speak having been parishioners of both. OLGC vibe is very active, community- oriented, young and supportive pastor. You see a lot of young families at masses. They have a lot of special celebrations and traditions that both the school and church are involved in. Strong school, engaged families. Bigger class sizes, as one poster mentioned.

St. Mark parish and school and parish strike me as 2 entirely different entities. School seems more private with some religion scattered in vs. a cohesive community. Mostly old people at mass, rarely see families from the school. Needs some reinvigoration in my opinion. Smaller class size. Lovely families overall.

Both schools will be really difficult to get into so get on a waitlist now as a lot of public kids transferred over during COVID and stayed taking up spots

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can speak having been parishioners of both. OLGC vibe is very active, community- oriented, young and supportive pastor. You see a lot of young families at masses. They have a lot of special celebrations and traditions that both the school and church are involved in. Strong school, engaged families. Bigger class sizes, as one poster mentioned.

St. Mark parish and school and parish strike me as 2 entirely different entities. School seems more private with some religion scattered in vs. a cohesive community. Mostly old people at mass, rarely see families from the school. Needs some reinvigoration in my opinion. Smaller class size. Lovely families overall.

Both schools will be really difficult to get into so get on a waitlist now as a lot of public kids transferred over during COVID and stayed taking up spots

We are a St. Mark parish and school family and agree with this. The pastor at St. Mark is hands off with the school and there isn't much of a relationship with the church. You don't see many families at mass. The principal is nice and has strengths, but it feels like a bit of a bare bones type of atmosphere in terms of activities, community building, PTPO leadership, etc. The academics seems on par, and the class sizes are good (usually 20 or less). You can look at the school's website and Facebook page and get a feel for the difference in the schools and approach to activities, technology, communication, etc. St. Mark is very dated. The teacher turnover in the lower grades has been an issue for some children who have had 4-5 teachers over two years with abrupt teacher departures with very little communication to parents. Some of this is likely due to the pandemic and staffing challenges, but also maybe some internal morale issues. Families have transferred to OLGC and other schools the past couple of years for these reasons. St. Mark has all the potential in the world, though - it's a really nice school and a good community of people.

[Anonymous]

We just completed our first year of early elementary at St. Mark's, and we were quite happy with it. Strong academics and good community. We plan to stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard St Marks is rigorous.

Me too. I’ve heard about lots of HW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just completed our first year of early elementary at St. Mark's, and we were quite happy with it. Strong academics and good community. We plan to stay.

What grade? What makes the academics strong?

[Anonymous]

I teach at a diocesan high school. The kids that come from both of these schools tend to be tops academically and well-involved in our school community. Two great choices!