K-8 Catholic Schools in NW
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Anonymous
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We had planned to ride out DCPS for a few years after kindergarten and take our time deciding on private school options versus moving to the 'burbs and finding a good public school out there. Plans are changing now though after learning how much teachers are relying on the TV (heard one teacher simply threw on a few episodes of Bluey during what was supposed to be a specialty class) and seeing one of our children struggle emotionally with the loud, often chaotic environment at our neighborhood elementary. We are now thinking kindergarten may be as far as we go in DCPS. We don't make the cash for the Beauvoirs or Lowells of the world and don't really travel in the kinds of social circles I assume makes up a lot of those parental communities. We were both raised Catholic and spent significant portions of our educations in Catholic schools. So with that in mind and the generally more affordable tuition Catholic schools offer, I think we're headed that route for our children.
My spouse seems to think that the academics are comparable between DCPS and most Catholic grade schools (I disagree) but putting that to the side, we are interested in a calmer, more structured learning environment, greater focus on discipline and hard work, and better positioning for admission to competitive middle/high school later on. We live in upper NW, close to Takoma but are willing to commute a bit for the right school. Would anyone like to offer suggestions on Catholic schools that would be a step up from DCPS without looking at a $50k+ tuition? |
Anonymous
| Blessed Sacrament in Chevy Chase |
Anonymous
| Our kid goes to sacred heart in mt pleasant. We’ve only been there for 1 year but it’s great. It’s Spanish immersion. St Anthony in Brookland is also a nice school. Both are cheap as they are subsidized by the archdiocese. |
Anonymous
| FWIW Remember Beauvoir and Lowell (and GDS, Sidwell, etc.) give aid. There seems to be a pervasive idea among our not super wealthy but UMC friends that they will not get any aid and so they don't apply to private schools. There is the sticker price and the price you may pay with some money knocked off. If Beauvoir or Lowell is what you're interested in and you could afford to pay full at a Catholic school for 20K less, why not see what you get in aid at those schools and see if it works financially for you? We took that route when we applied to schools and we are going to Beauvoir next year. We assumed we would get a nominal amount of money, if anything, and likely not go. Instead we received FA for almost 1/3 the cost and will be attending. |
Anonymous
Thanks. My kids are Pre-K and have a small Spanish vocabulary and some counting but nothing close to conversational or fluent. Does that matter for admissions? |
Anonymous
All of those kids will go on to expensive private high schools. Our lady of victory |
Anonymous
Good point. Probably will look into this. |
Anonymous
No, that would be totally fine. The first few grades are completely in Spanish but then the school switches to bilingual after 1st grade maybe? Check the website but I think they stop taking kids without any Spanish background after 1st grade. It’s a really nice small school and very affordable. |
Anonymous
Thanks. Sounds like you are happy with the experience so far. Any further observations or descriptions of your experience would be most welcome. Does Sacred Heart have a reputation as a feeder school for any certain group of high schools? |
Anonymous
| holy trinity in georgetown |
Anonymous
I’m not sure as we are many years from high school (we are in ECE still) but all of their 8th graders were accepted into Catholic HS (same goes for St Anthony) although not all attended Catholic HS. They prep the kids for the high school admissions test. I think if you’ve gone all the way through 8th grade at a Catholic school, the high schools look upon that favorably. I am somewhat concerned whether the school is too small (there’s just one class per grade) but have decided to worry about that later as my kid gets older. I just wonder if opportunities both academic and social will be too limited. It’s very diverse, as is St Anthony, which I love. There are no behavioral issues that I’ve observed with the older kids, which is a huge concern for me with DCPS schools. The middle schoolers just seem like sweet kids. The principal is new this year but seems good. The PTA is active and energized. We were raised Catholic but don’t practice. My kid is definitely getting a lot of religious education so you need to be comfortable with that if you’re like me. You can reach out for a tour. Same goes for St Anthony. The principal there is a good guy. Both schools are just nice modest urban Catholic K-8s. We would have been happy at St Anthony too I’m pretty sure but wanted Spanish. |
Anonymous
Correction: both sacred heart and st Anthony are pk3-8, not k-8. |
Anonymous
I second Sacred Heart. My DC went there through middle school and it is a great school and wonderful community! |
Anonymous
SH students go on to attend a wide variety of Catholic privates (Gonzaga, Visi, SJC, DeMatha, Carroll, Holy Child, etc). A handful go on to test-in publics. I wouldn’t say that SH is a feeder for any particular school, but rather HS admissions fluctuate from year to year depending on where kids apply, what type of school environment appeals to them (co-ed v single sex, urban v suburban), which HS has a better location/cost/course offerings/sports opportunities for individual students. Some years might have a lot of students going to one school, some years another, but usually it is a mix. |
Anonymous
| Not Catholic but how about Grace Episcopal School in Kensington? |