Trying to decide between OLGC and St. Mark Catholic schools in Vienna - any advice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think both of these schools are great. You can't go wrong. [b]The OLGC principal one year in the past 10 I think was fired and the new principal is more popular. You never know who the principal or teachers are going to be. Some are great and some can be problematic. They have an impact, but the curriculum and families remain pretty consistent from year to year. The parents and kids are very similar from one school to another. School start times are slightly different and school class sizes are slightly different, but the experience is similar. If you are interested in a catholic education, a strong academic foundation and extracurricular foundation, each of these schools will be solid. I do think the diocesan schools are a little stricter but in a good way. They have some oversight. Still OLGC has been around a long time and both of them were very popular choices during the pandemic and many families decided to stay. OLGC might feed more into O'Connell and Gonzaga and St. Mark a balance between O'Connell and Paul XI. I am not certain of this. You could ask where kids move on after graduation. Many return to public school for high school too.

She was not fired! She was beloved but moved to a different state. New principal is great too. Very warm, awesome energy!

Thank you, this is helpful to know! Appreciate your feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you coming from out of state or something? If not show up to mass at each school or at an event that is open to the public (like a CYO game) and get a feel of the people and energy of each place. They are really similar. OLGC has a big school (rah- rah feel to it).

I'm not out of state; this is good advice. I think I heard that the school masses are closed to the public, but I will inquire. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

OP- Have you heard from OLGC yet because we are applying this year and haven’t heard back yet! Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Former St Luke family here (recent grad) and we interacted at the CYO level a lot with these schools. It seems to me unless something turns you on or off ( overall size, for example, that can be good and not so good), I’d choose the one that is your parish or close to home or more convenient for you. You’ll be driving there A LOT over the years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- Have you heard from OLGC yet because we are applying this year and haven’t heard back yet! Thanks!

I have not! I think they'll start notifying families in early February because they are waiting to hear from current families by end of January as I was told by the admissions person. Did you apply to any other schools or just OLGC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former St Luke family here (recent grad) and we interacted at the CYO level a lot with these schools. It seems to me unless something turns you on or off ( overall size, for example, that can be good and not so good), I’d choose the one that is your parish or close to home or more convenient for you. You’ll be driving there A LOT over the years.

Good point, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think both of these schools are great. You can't go wrong. [b]The OLGC principal one year in the past 10 I think was fired and the new principal is more popular. You never know who the principal or teachers are going to be. Some are great and some can be problematic. They have an impact, but the curriculum and families remain pretty consistent from year to year. The parents and kids are very similar from one school to another. School start times are slightly different and school class sizes are slightly different, but the experience is similar. If you are interested in a catholic education, a strong academic foundation and extracurricular foundation, each of these schools will be solid. I do think the diocesan schools are a little stricter but in a good way. They have some oversight. Still OLGC has been around a long time and both of them were very popular choices during the pandemic and many families decided to stay. OLGC might feed more into O'Connell and Gonzaga and St. Mark a balance between O'Connell and Paul XI. I am not certain of this. You could ask where kids move on after graduation. Many return to public school for high school too.

She was not fired! She was beloved but moved to a different state. New principal is great too. Very warm, awesome energy!

Thank you, this is helpful to know! Appreciate your feedback.

The principal I meant was a man. It was years before. No matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- Have you heard from OLGC yet because we are applying this year and haven’t heard back yet! Thanks!

I have not! I think they'll start notifying families in early February because they are waiting to hear from current families by end of January as I was told by the admissions person. Did you apply to any other schools or just OLGC?

Yes we applied to our parish school but OLGC is our top choice. We will change parishes if admitted to OLGC. We were super impressed with the principal, assistant principal, the open house, academics, religious formation and the 8th grade students! Also really like how it’s a two track school so that the kids can have different classmates and a different class dynamic year to year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- Have you heard from OLGC yet because we are applying this year and haven’t heard back yet! Thanks!

I have not! I think they'll start notifying families in early February because they are waiting to hear from current families by end of January as I was told by the admissions person. Did you apply to any other schools or just OLGC?

Yes we applied to our parish school but OLGC is our top choice. We will change parishes if admitted to OLGC. We were super impressed with the principal, assistant principal, the open house, academics, religious formation and the 8th grade students! Also really like how it’s a two track school so that the kids can have different classmates and a different class dynamic year to year.

Great to know. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I met the principal at St. Mark during the pandemic. Sadly, I was there for funeral.

She was very devoted to her students and when I asked about how she was managing Covid protocols, she talked about the feedback she got from her community and that she made decisions based on what her community valued.

I just found her to be warm and a great collaborator.

Without sounding harsh, she’s a terrible administrator and super awkward/cold. She’s unwilling to impartially hear concerns and becomes very defensive. She treats students/ parents differently based on how much money they give/how much they volunteer. High staff turnover each year.

It sounds like the 2 posters above are describing different principals. There was a change about 5 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Which school is closer, OP? Apply there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which school is closer, OP? Apply there.

If you are close to both, it’s a good idea to research and look into both schools. Each school has a slightly different feel and community as well as what they emphasize.

[Anonymous]

We loved St Mark (we moved away). The principal is excellent, and the best principal I have ever dealt with as a parent. We didn’t donate anything ever - literally nothing other than paying the tuition so not sure where that other poster ideas come from. St Mark is smaller class size then OLGC due to its agreement with the country when they built the school and we loved that. The curriculum’s are the same throughout the diocese fyi. I think Olgc is more parish connected and St Mark feels less connected to the parish almost independent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which school is closer, OP? Apply there.

If you are close to both, it’s a good idea to research and look into both schools. Each school has a slightly different feel and community as well as what they emphasize.

I am close to both and could easily commute to both, that's why the decision is a bit tricky. Is there anything specific about the different feel/community?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We loved St Mark (we moved away). The principal is excellent, and the best principal I have ever dealt with as a parent. We didn’t donate anything ever - literally nothing other than paying the tuition so not sure where that other poster ideas come from. St Mark is smaller class size then OLGC due to its agreement with the country when they built the school and we loved that. The curriculum’s are the same throughout the diocese fyi. I think Olgc is more parish connected and St Mark feels less connected to the parish almost independent.

Great to hear, thanks for the feedback. Yes, so I figured the curriculum is the same for all the Arlington Archdiocese schools, that's why it always confused me when I read or heard about one parochial school being stronger in academics than another... I guess it could be teacher-dependent?