Catholic Parish Schools: Bethesda/Ch Ch/DC/Potomac/Rockville and others

[Anonymous]

Blessed sacrament isn't usually compared to Holy cross perhaps because there are parish schools in between the two and blessed sacrament is more urban setting. Also because no one knows enough to compare the two outright. Its all hearsay.

[Anonymous]

To emphasize why this issue matters to everyone, every new public school student costs approximately $17,000 annually to educate. More students mean more books, teachers, classrooms and buildings — an enormous cost. Since that money primarily comes from property taxes, including from seniors living on fixed incomes, it’s in everyone’s interest to stop the exodus and stabilize Catholic schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:anyone know anything about Mary of Nazareth, Darnestown?

We have family who have children that attend Mary of Nazareth and they love the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To emphasize why this issue matters to everyone, every new public school student costs approximately $17,000 annually to educate. More students mean more books, teachers, classrooms and buildings — an enormous cost. Since that money primarily comes from property taxes, including from seniors living on fixed incomes, it’s in everyone’s interest to stop the exodus and stabilize Catholic schools.

I don't see an exodus. Maybe some schools are having trouble but not many in these areas. Maybe in the red zone areas like SS but St. Lukes isn't having any trouble enrollment wise.

[Anonymous]

Hi!

I know this thread has been inactive for several months but we are new to the area with two kids and are considering Avalon and Brookewood. Our kids will be in 1st grade and 3rd grade and would appreciate any input, not just regarding the schools previously mentioned but any suggestions as to which schools would be worth taking time to look into. I feel like I've read through every MoCo area Catholic school website in the past couple of months!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi!

I know this thread has been inactive for several months but we are new to the area with two kids and are considering Avalon and Brookewood. Our kids will be in 1st grade and 3rd grade and would appreciate any input, not just regarding the schools previously mentioned but any suggestions as to which schools would be worth taking time to look into. I feel like I've read through every MoCo area Catholic school website in the past couple of months!

I'm confused.

Wouldn't your search start at the Parish at which you belong

And wouldn't going to Mass at these parishes be a better way than searching through websites?

The parish and the schools reflect the neighborhoods that the parishes serve.

Or are you a non-Catholic looking for a bargain-priced alternative to the more expensive privates?

[Anonymous]

We are moving from out-of-state and don't belong to any parish in the MoCo area yet. I have been doing my research from a distance and need to narrow down choices as to which places to visit as we cannot be driving to MD every Sunday to hear mass at a different parish.

There are time constraints involved that do not allow us to "study" the area as carefully and personally as we'd like. Hence, the fallback on reading websites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi!

I know this thread has been inactive for several months but we are new to the area with two kids and are considering Avalon and Brookewood. Our kids will be in 1st grade and 3rd grade and would appreciate any input, not just regarding the schools previously mentioned but any suggestions as to which schools would be worth taking time to look into. I feel like I've read through every MoCo area Catholic school website in the past couple of months!

I'm confused.

Wouldn't your search start at the Parish at which you belong

And wouldn't going to Mass at these parishes be a better way than searching through websites?

The parish and the schools reflect the neighborhoods that the parishes serve.

Or are you a non-Catholic looking for a bargain-priced alternative to the more expensive privates?

Why do you keep posting this? Protestants pay the Protestant rate. At our local parish school, we paid the Protestant rate which was twice what the Catholics in the parish paid.

[Anonymous]

You have chosen two of the most conservative Catholic schools. I'm not sure your going to find any parish school that is like them.

What are you looking for in a parish? Are you very flexible in terms of where you can live? Most parish schools very definitely feed from their immediate neighborhoods and so much of your kids' lives will tend to focus there (friends, CYO sports, school and parish activities, etc.) I can't imagine you want to be driving far. Plus you will want the benefit of living in parish to try to get 2 kids in at once in lower grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving from out-of-state and don't belong to any parish in the MoCo area yet. I have been doing my research from a distance and need to narrow down choices as to which places to visit as we cannot be driving to MD every Sunday to hear mass at a different parish.

There are time constraints involved that do not allow us to "study" the area as carefully and personally as we'd like. Hence, the fallback on reading websites.

I guess the first question is logistics, where will you live, where will you work, and is aftercare important? When we were deciding on a school, we had to find ones with a decent commute and they had to have aftercare available as well as after school activities. One of the things that made it tough is my public school didn't have aftercare available at the school so unless we could pickup at 4:15, it was difficult to have the kids participate in any after-school enrichment. For where I live and work, DeChantal, St.Bart's, and Holy Cross School (Garett Park) were on the list. At one point I considered Brookewood but I wasn't ready to make a commitment beyond 8th grade. I like the idea or re-evaluating what high school and knowing that there is a natural progression for all the kids to make new friends in 9th grade and move to a bigger environment without feeling like they are leaving friends that are staying together. If you go the route of K-12, is the lower, middle, and upper grades equally strong? Are they strong in math and science, areas that have a general reputation of being weaker at Catholic schools compared to MCPS schools, are you confident in the outplacement to college?

Between DeChantal, St. Bart's, and Holy Cross School, I was really looking for a school that would make newcomers, both parents and children, feel welcome and you wouldn't be able to tell the kids that came in K from the kids that joined in later grades aka that cozy, small, welcoming atmosphere. I also looked at outplacement to high schools. I wanted a school that not only has a reputation for strong academics but a reputation for getting children to work to their potential and providing the support needed to get there. That narrowed my list to St. Bart's and Holy Cross School. Quite honestly at that point it made sense to go where people we knew had kids in the school so St. Bart's is where we ended up. I called up, we went on a tour and asked questions about any areas of concern and put in an application. We also had our children do a shadow morning where they got to meet the teacher and other kids before we enrolled. FWIW, there are some families that belong to this parish and others that belong to different parishes but selected the school for different reasons. If there are things that draw you to Avalon/Brookewood, I would encourage you to ask about them if you tour other schools I.e. If you worry about leadership opportunities for girls in a co-ed school or transition to an all-girls high-school, drawing kids from the parish or not drawing most of the kids from the parish, strength of religious instruction etc, this is the time to ask the questions and make sure you are comfortable with the answers.

Good luck and welcome to the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love my son to attend CS, as I did and my parents and so on...But the HUGE class sizes are a HUGE issue for me/my son.

It depends on the school. Holy Redeemer in College Park is huge. There are 32 kids in one class! But there are other schools where there are only 22 kids in one class.

Holy redeemer is in Kensington, not college park. It is a neighborhood type school with families going there for multiple generations. Holy redeemer class size his quite small. Around 20 per class.

There are a few non catholic kids and they do well. I love the school arts festival each year. The academics are not as high as the big 3, but better than some of the other independents and some publics. The school gets to know each kid very well. The placement in Catholic high school is good. This year more kids are going to GPrep and Visitation than in previous years.

If you want a small school that emphasizes the intrinsic value of each student I would recommend Holy Redeemer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for a diverse Catholic MS for my DS in MC. We are an AA family.

. Holy redeemer in Kensington is not diverse but there are a handful of AA students who do well there.

[Anonymous]

"The academics are not as high as the big 3, but better than some of the other independents and some publics."

Which are the Big 3?

[Anonymous]

There are several AA families at St. Jane De Chantal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: "The academics are not as high as the big 3, but better than some of the other independents and some publics."

Which are the Big 3?

Name an independent with inferior academics to a parochial school. I don't think one exists in this area unless you're talking about a lesser-known school.