Bishop O’Connell from Mont County

[Anonymous]

We are seriously considering Bishop O’Connell for our 8th grader for next year. We live in close-in Silver Spring. Has anyone sent a kid to O’Connell from MoCo? Did you drive them both ways? Use a car pool? Did they metro? Any thoughts about logistics and whether the commute was too much of a burden especially when considering sports/extracurriculars? I am also curious about whether your student felt like an outsider due to not being from NoVA. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

It's doable, but there are tradeoffs. Not at DOJ but at another Catholic HS with a similar commute. Our DS relies on a combination of public transportation and school-provided transportation. The logistics for after school activities and sports are tricky but worth the tradeoffs when it comes to the overall environment, approach to academics, and community compared to our local public.

I'd ask yourself, what is it about DOJ that puts above other options, including other Co-ed Catholic schools like SJC or perhaps a single sex school like SR, AHC, DM, etc. that may be a more manageable commute from Silver Spring?

[Anonymous]

I would ask the school how many kids from our side of VA go to DJO. From areas like the Palisades/NW DC it is a 15 minute drive to DJO BUT they don't target the area and have no busses from that area. From the families I know at DJO most are in Northern VA-they say everything s over there and no DC families. I think you child would feel completely cut off from the school and all friends and activities.

[Anonymous]

With everything going on with 495, I would personally thing it's gonna be a long 4 years. There are back roads and "shortcuts," but I would think it's going to be hard on everyone. Commute aside, I'd think friends, social things, wanting to hang out with people would be hard. I do know the swim team practices at the St. James in Springfield, in the event that's a sport they would be interested in. There is a bus there, but I think you have to provide your own transportation home.

[Anonymous]

Curious what DJO offers that a closer school doesn’t. It’s a fine school, but doesn’t strike me as standing out so far above other choices to make such a miserable commute worthwhile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are seriously considering Bishop O’Connell for our 8th grader for next year. We live in close-in Silver Spring. Has anyone sent a kid to O’Connell from MoCo? Did you drive them both ways? Use a car pool? Did they metro? Any thoughts about logistics and whether the commute was too much of a burden especially when considering sports/extracurriculars? I am also curious about whether your student felt like an outsider due to not being from NoVA. Thanks.

No and who would

Super education
Indoctrination

No OP no one with a brain drives there from silver spring.

In your case most likely MAGA have at it,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious what DJO offers that a closer school doesn’t. It’s a fine school, but doesn’t strike me as standing out so far above other choices to make such a miserable commute worthwhile.

We are a DJO family and I wonder the same thing. We crossed a particular school off of our list due to a similar type of commute and decided the cons weren't worth the potential upsides of a school that would have otherwise been a great fit. That being said, I do know at least one family personally who commutes from Prince George's County, and there is a Maryland bus so clearly some people find value in the school that is worth traveling for.

[Anonymous]

OP: Thanks to those of you who posted helpful comments. We are thinking a coed environment might be a better fit for us but we are looking at the single-sex schools seriously as well. Good Counsel is significantly more expensive than DJO while also making it clear that they are not generous with aid. There are some things about SJC we don't love and were trying to cast a wider net. I was impressed with DJO's solid academics, small class sizes, wide variety of sports/clubs, and Catholic identity. And their inclusion of those with developmental disabilities is really lovely. But the commute may just be too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are seriously considering Bishop O’Connell for our 8th grader for next year. We live in close-in Silver Spring. Has anyone sent a kid to O’Connell from MoCo? Did you drive them both ways? Use a car pool? Did they metro? Any thoughts about logistics and whether the commute was too much of a burden especially when considering sports/extracurriculars? I am also curious about whether your student felt like an outsider due to not being from NoVA. Thanks.

No and who would

Super education
Indoctrination

No OP no one with a brain drives there from silver spring.

In your case most likely MAGA have at it,

You seem like a hateful person. Spend some time reflecting on what could possibly be accomplished by your contribution to this thread. You've done nothing but hurl insults. Not a good look. OP is a very disciplined person for ignoring you troll. Me, less so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With everything going on with 495, I would personally thing it's gonna be a long 4 years. There are back roads and "shortcuts," but I would think it's going to be hard on everyone. Commute aside, I'd think friends, social things, wanting to hang out with people would be hard. I do know the swim team practices at the St. James in Springfield, in the event that's a sport they would be interested in. There is a bus there, but I think you have to provide your own transportation home.

Not something the OP mentioned, but correcting this in case others read it. The team no longer practices at the St James. It uses a facility near Tysons and the dive team uses an APS high school.

[Anonymous]

That commute is a killer. Twice a day for 4 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: Thanks to those of you who posted helpful comments. We are thinking a coed environment might be a better fit for us but we are looking at the single-sex schools seriously as well. Good Counsel is significantly more expensive than DJO while also making it clear that they are not generous with aid. There are some things about SJC we don't love and were trying to cast a wider net. I was impressed with DJO's solid academics, small class sizes, wide variety of sports/clubs, and Catholic identity. And their inclusion of those with developmental disabilities is really lovely. But the commute may just be too much.

It is a great school. Those of us in NoVA are fortunate to have several good diocesan high schools to choose from. We were deciding between Bishop Ireton and Saint John Paul the Great for my ds, and while JPG had a lot to offer, the extra commute was just too much. Ds is very happy at Ireton. I will add that even that commute is rough from where we live. It’s about 25 mins with no traffic, but it’s a rare time of day where that’s the case!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: Thanks to those of you who posted helpful comments. We are thinking a coed environment might be a better fit for us but we are looking at the single-sex schools seriously as well. Good Counsel is significantly more expensive than DJO while also making it clear that they are not generous with aid. There are some things about SJC we don't love and were trying to cast a wider net. I was impressed with DJO's solid academics, small class sizes, wide variety of sports/clubs, and Catholic identity. And their inclusion of those with developmental disabilities is really lovely. But the commute may just be too much.

You should still apply to GC and apply for every scholarship that you're eligible for. I know of some families that were pleasantly surprised by the offers they received last year.

[Anonymous]

I am doing a commute that is 45 min each way now for elementary. It's doable but it is rough.

There were no spots for the two grades we needed when we wanted to swtich so we ended up at a school that is 20 minutes without traffic but 45 min with traffic every day each way.

Will likely end up at Bishop O'Connell. Moving to do that.

[Anonymous]

The metro wouldn’t be too bad for that commute. There is also a school bus from the metro.