Unvarnished opinions sought from current Catholic K-8 parents in Bethesda/Rockville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to mass to the parish school closest to your house and see if you like it then visit the three next closest for mass. You need to pick a community because your child will get priority for kindergarten if you are a parish member.

Pick a school by your house not by your work.

Once your child is enrolled you should be taking her to mass every week if you are Catholic.

I disagree with this. Parochial schools are private they aren't your local public school so you should ABSOLUTELY pick the one that has the culture that fits you best! If it ends up being the closest one to you that's definitely a win but no you don't need to go to the closest one. You might have second priority in admissions until you become a parishioner. We pass our closest parochial school and drive an extra 13 minutes to get to ours because it's a) a better school with an amazing principal b) a two track school so our kids have more options for friends and less cliqueness c) there are more resources! There are many kids in our school that also are on the same boat!

DP but you’re saying the same thing as pp — pick a community, pick the best fit. PP just suggested starting with the closest to see if it’s a good fit and then moving outward in distance.

[Anonymous]

St. E's is lovely. The class sizes are huge after K, nearly if not over 30 kids per class, but there are assistant teachers in every classroom so the ratio is decent. The parent community seems to be getting fancier than when we first started there nearly a decade ago, which bums me out, but that's really my only criticism. Very reasonably priced, lovely teachers, seemingly happy kids, tons of chances to get involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to mass to the parish school closest to your house and see if you like it then visit the three next closest for mass. You need to pick a community because your child will get priority for kindergarten if you are a parish member.

Pick a school by your house not by your work.

Once your child is enrolled you should be taking her to mass every week if you are Catholic.

I disagree with this. Parochial schools are private they aren't your local public school so you should ABSOLUTELY pick the one that has the culture that fits you best! If it ends up being the closest one to you that's definitely a win but no you don't need to go to the closest one. You might have second priority in admissions until you become a parishioner. We pass our closest parochial school and drive an extra 13 minutes to get to ours because it's a) a better school with an amazing principal b) a two track school so our kids have more options for friends and less cliqueness c) there are more resources! There are many kids in our school that also are on the same boat!

This assumes that you are actually able to "pick" the school you like best.

That may not be the case. Even parishioners at some schools aren't offered spots.

Your kids ended up at a larger school (2 tracks, etc.) so that might be easier. But heading into this process with a mindset of wanting to evaluate the entire range of possibilities and then select the one you like best doesn't sound very realistic to me.