Reputation of St. John's College HS and other "normal" privates

[Anonymous]

Unnecessary to correct misstatements of fact?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s essentially IMG with weekly Mass, plus a healthy smattering of DCPS refugees whose parents prioritized a whole-house reno /addition in NWDC at some point over paying school tuitions. They kept the kids in DCPS for too long and now don’t have other HS options since Walls didn’t pan out.

If you are a refugee from DCPS you’re generally not interested in the Sidwell and GDS of the world. They have a similar curriculum as DCPS, but smaller class sizes and everyone is on grade or advanced. If you choose Catholic it is a cultural thing as much as it is financial. You want service, but also love of God, family and country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unnecessary to correct misstatements of fact?

Someone estimated 6-10 and you felt obliged to amend to 11?

Yeah, since it's not relevant to OP's questions, it just comes across as a super anal Sidwell parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s essentially IMG with weekly Mass, plus a healthy smattering of DCPS refugees whose parents prioritized a whole-house reno /addition in NWDC at some point over paying school tuitions. They kept the kids in DCPS for too long and now don’t have other HS options since Walls didn’t pan out.

IOW this PP is entirely ignorant on this subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where to begin?

First, the Catholic locals, which is a large group of people here, would be offended by your identifying Gonzaga or Prep or even St John’s “second tier”. For this group, the Catholic schools are the top tier and they very rarely even consider sending their kids to non-Catholic private schools including the Big 3 or Big 5. These schools are where the Catholic lawyers, doctors, etc. send their kids.

From what I see, St John’s appeals to several groups:

Legacies – St Johns has a large group of alumni who have strong feelings about the school even though the St Johns of today is vastly different from the one they attended through 2000. It used to be all boys with a significant military presence. The school went into a deep dive in the 1990’s and alumni helped resurrect it. The new buildings and athletic fields bear the names of some of these people.

Catholics from local Parish schools – Who want to continue at a Catholic high school and 90%+ of them do. Many of these parishes are located in NW DC and Montgomery County. St John’s does very, very well attracting students from these parishes. The school now even challenges Gonzaga and Prep for the best students and athletes including those from families that could pay the sky-high tuition at other schools.

DC Residents looking for an alternative to DCPS.

Non-Catholics looking for a safety school or for a lower-priced alternative to most other private schools. (You appear to be in this group)

Through the years, St John's has done all sorts of things to make itself more attractive. They went co-ed, they have all sorts of academic programs for different kinds of students, and they have invested huge amounts of donated money in athletic fields and the sports programs

I don’t know where you are from, but most areas have large, co-ed Catholic schools that have excellent sports teams and that have a range of students attending. That's what St Johns has become.

If you live close by, go to a St, John's football game this Fall. You'll see the student body and the alumni and get a sense of the energy of the place. The experience will answer questions you wouldn't even think af asking.

OP: Gotcha, thanks. Definitely didn't mean to offend anyone so glad to know that categorizing these schools as second tier could come off as insulting. We're non-practicing Catholics from the Midwest where most of the Catholic schools are single sex. We're in DCPS now and probably will look at local parish schools in the next couple of years. I went to a place that seems similar to what I think I know about NCS. Academically very rigorous, bad at sports. Good idea on the football game. Probably will do that!

As I wrote above, StJohn’s went co-Ed because it had allowed itself to be driven into a ditch enrollment-wise.

While others that are chiming in about the dominance of sports there, there’s more to it than that. I am always surprised to hear that kids I felt sure would end up at one of the Catholic “Big 4” (Prep and Gonzaga for boys and Visitation and Stone Ridge for girls) instead opted for St Johns.

I marvel at what the school has been able to achieve.

I admit I had to laugh at the idea of someone suggesting that Gonzaga was a second tier school in front of a group of purple-clad moms. Sort of like hitting a hornets nest with a stick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s essentially IMG with weekly Mass, plus a healthy smattering of DCPS refugees whose parents prioritized a whole-house reno /addition in NWDC at some point over paying school tuitions. They kept the kids in DCPS for too long and now don’t have other HS options since Walls didn’t pan out.

IOW this PP is entirely ignorant on this subject.

It’s a troll but I laughed. Gonna work “IMG with weekly Mass” into my passive aggressive cocktail chats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s essentially IMG with weekly Mass, plus a healthy smattering of DCPS refugees whose parents prioritized a whole-house reno /addition in NWDC at some point over paying school tuitions. They kept the kids in DCPS for too long and now don’t have other HS options since Walls didn’t pan out.

IOW this PP is entirely ignorant on this subject.

It’s a troll but I laughed. Gonna work “IMG with weekly Mass” into my passive aggressive cocktail chats.

IMG with weekly Mass is the new Public School with Tuition. I don't believe either about SJC, for the record I think it's a great school, but I think this is funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SJC is mentioned quite a bit, so not sure what you are talking about.

I assume you know it and other WCAC schools are considered sports powerhouses, so don't think your kid can just show up and play many sports if not recruited.

Solid academically, but not crazy amounts of homework. Produced 2 NMSFs this year vs. anywhere from 6-10 at GDS, Sidwell, STA just to give you some benchmark.

Good size...1200 kids total vs. 300 at STA, 600ish at Sidwell/GDS.

I’m chiming in to provide accurate information about Sidwell. Sidwell produced 11 NMSFs this year (the highest # I’ve seen at Sidwell, in recent memory, was 16). Sidwell has ~500 students in the US.

Did well doesn’t offer a program for those with learning differences and SJC does. Sidwell has very wealthy parents so kids don’t have to work and have lots of support.

I’m not sure how anyone can say the school is better versus the school picked highly wealthy privileged students who would have done well anywhere.

I’m the poster you’re responding to.

OMG—I was just correcting some of the the things the PP wrote. I didn’t say anything about Sidwell being better than SJC, nor did I compare the two schools. Please unclench‼️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unnecessary to correct misstatements of fact?

You should know you’re not allowed to say anything about Sidwell that can remotely be perceived as a compliment. If you dare, someone will race to the post to put you “snobby Sidwell parents” in your place!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It’s essentially IMG with weekly Mass, plus a healthy smattering of DCPS refugees whose parents prioritized a whole-house reno /addition in NWDC at some point over paying school tuitions. They kept the kids in DCPS for too long and now don’t have other HS options since Walls didn’t pan out.[/quote

Not true, but not to far off either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s essentially IMG with weekly Mass, plus a healthy smattering of DCPS refugees whose parents prioritized a whole-house reno /addition in NWDC at some point over paying school tuitions. They kept the kids in DCPS for too long and now don’t have other HS options since Walls didn’t pan out.

IOW this PP is entirely ignorant on this subject.

It’s a troll but I laughed. Gonna work “IMG with weekly Mass” into my passive aggressive cocktail chats.

IMG with weekly Mass is the new Public School with Tuition. I don't believe either about SJC, for the record I think it's a great school, but I think this is funny.

"Wilson with tuition" was the classic taunt, but just doesn't rhyme as well since it would have to be "Jackson Reed with tuition" now.

However it would be more accurate to say "coed Gonzaga with less latin"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s essentially IMG with weekly Mass, plus a healthy smattering of DCPS refugees whose parents prioritized a whole-house reno /addition in NWDC at some point over paying school tuitions. They kept the kids in DCPS for too long and now don’t have other HS options since Walls didn’t pan out.

IOW this PP is entirely ignorant on this subject.

It’s a troll but I laughed. Gonna work “IMG with weekly Mass” into my passive aggressive cocktail chats.

IMG with weekly Mass is the new Public School with Tuition. I don't believe either about SJC, for the record I think it's a great school, but I think this is funny.

"Wilson with tuition" was the classic taunt, but just doesn't rhyme as well since it would have to be "Jackson Reed with tuition" now.

However it would be more accurate to say "coed Gonzaga with less latin"

JR with caviar?

SJC seems less pretentious than Gonzaga even with all the Kevin Plank money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unnecessary to correct misstatements of fact?

You should know you’re not allowed to say anything about Sidwell that can remotely be perceived as a compliment. If you dare, someone will race to the post to put you “snobby Sidwell parents” in your place!

Sidwell?

Isn’t that where Protestants teach Jews to be good Quakers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unnecessary to correct misstatements of fact?

You should know you’re not allowed to say anything about Sidwell that can remotely be perceived as a compliment. If you dare, someone will race to the post to put you “snobby Sidwell parents” in your place!

Sidwell?

Isn’t that where Protestants teach Jews to be good Quakers?

Aren’t you clever. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unnecessary to correct misstatements of fact?

Unnecessary in this context. Read the room.