Tell me about Catholic School Over Fairfax County

[Anonymous]

You avoid the, "you're gifted", "you're not" nonsense which is FCPS - - and, I think it's very damaging. Daughter had many very nice friends who entered public school for the first time, FCPS in 9th. They were hard working, accomplished, believed in themselves, and never gave any thought to whether someone else thought they were gifted or not. They seemed very comfortable in their own skin. These were my favorites of DD friends. They had come from Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole Catholic Schools don't have well qualified teachers and strong academics is just not true. We are in Fairfax in a very good school district and our daughter attends Catholic School. Her teacher last year was getting her masters to be a reading specialist and all of the teachers at her school are more than qualified and have been at the school for many years.

Our school has strong academics. You need a 93 average to get an A, which is higher than Fairfax--Fairfax lowered this to a 90 a few years back. There is foreign language, new computers and tablets being added every year. Recess every day in all grades.

We decided against our local public school because the entire school was just too big. 5 classes per grade was not going to work for us.

We know all the families in our grades and feel that the school, the teachers and admin staff knows our daughter well.

School time start worked better for working families too.

We do not regret for one second sending our child to Catholic school over our very good Fairfax County school.

Ummm.. there are no "A's" or "B's" in FCPS elementary schools. 1, 2, 3, and 4 -- it's been that way for several years.

As for knowing all the families -- that can be a plus that becomes a minus by the time you all have been together for 4+ years. My friends at Blessed Sacrament (one class per grade) were very tired of the same old same old social circles by 4th grade. They are sticking it out and going public for HS. I think for better or for worse, your child will be known in a smaller school. In a larger public school, there is a chance to re-set each year b/c teachers don't know you when the year starts.

There is definitely a different set of behavior standards -- not that public school is bad, but Catholic school wins on that factor (personal discipline -- "good morning, Mrs. Jones!" being reverent at church, studying the 10 commandments, etc.). Diversity and interacting with people of different backgrounds -- public school wins.

Advanced math starts in 3rd grade at public school and the AAP program (full time adv. all subjects) is 3rd grade. My Catholic school friends have to "earn" their way into adv. math in 5th or 6th grade. Definitely more rigid grading in Catholic school -- not necessarily bad. Not sure about field trips and special events. I never hear about those. Public school kids have been to Va. Science Center (3rd grade), Kennedy Center, Jamestown, Luray Caverns, they have Colonial Day, Medieval Day, as well as local nature centers, smithsonian museums, monuments, historic park programs, etc., etc. Public has strings and band in grade school. I believe Catholic only had band. Basketball is a second religion at Catholic school. It's not part of public school, although some kids play in a local rec league.

Bottom line -- do you want the Catholic teachings as part of your child's education? Are you a family that gets along well with a small group of people for many years? If you get tired of people after a few years, you may not like the fishbowl community in a Catholic school. Others might find it very comforting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You avoid the, "you're gifted", "you're not" nonsense which is FCPS - - and, I think it's very damaging. Daughter had many very nice friends who entered public school for the first time, FCPS in 9th. They were hard working, accomplished, believed in themselves, and never gave any thought to whether someone else thought they were gifted or not. They seemed very comfortable in their own skin. These were my favorites of DD friends. They had come from Catholic school.

That is dependent on the particular public school. Not the case at all at my child's FCPS school. People don't think about AAP or discuss it. I've never heard any of the AAP kids define themselves as "gifted" -- or their parents.

[Anonymous]

^ I highly disagree.

[Anonymous]

I can give you a two-generation point of view. I grew up in Fairfax County (Spring Hill - Cooper - Langley pyramid) and went to Catholic school 1st-8th grades. My parents chose this because they felt it was a superior way to transmit the faith, when compared to CCD. I have to agree with them b/c I still have a solid grounding my faith and I see those around me who went to CCD falling away. While I could have gotten an equally excellent education (and I was either the same, or ahead of my public school classmates when I joined them during the high school years, at Langley, and racked up numerous academic awards and then went on to the London School of Economics).

Now, I am doing the same for my children. We too live in Fairfax County and I send my kids to Catholic parochial. I keep up with what is going on in the public school curriculum and feel that they are getting the same opportunities. Regardless of where I sent them, however, I also would make the choice to supplement with foreign language and science enrichment, which we do. (My children are in 1st and K.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can give you a two-generation point of view. I grew up in Fairfax County (Spring Hill - Cooper - Langley pyramid) and went to Catholic school 1st-8th grades. My parents chose this because they felt it was a superior way to transmit the faith, when compared to CCD. I have to agree with them b/c I still have a solid grounding my faith and I see those around me who went to CCD falling away. While I could have gotten an equally excellent education (and I was either the same, or ahead of my public school classmates when I joined them during the high school years, at Langley, and racked up numerous academic awards and then went on to the London School of Economics), I could not have gotten the solid and deep understanding of the Catholic faith, its history, etc.

Now, I am doing the same for my children. We too live in Fairfax County and I send my kids to Catholic parochial. I keep up with what is going on in the public school curriculum and feel that they are getting the same opportunities. Regardless of where I sent them, however, I also would make the choice to supplement with foreign language and science enrichment, which we do. (My children are in 1st and K.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ffx Co schools have latge classes. In fact, the Board just voted to cap class size to 27.

As practicing Catholics, we were debating whether to go Catholic school or public especially since we are in a really good school pyramid. We liked the resources the County offered - language immersion, IEPs for things like speech (which Dd needed), convenience/logistics, and no tuition. The things we are put off by are how much mainstreaming is done. DD has some really disruptive kids in her class who are so distracting there are "assistant teachers" to work with the 4 or 5 autistic/add (?) kids. It is still distracting though, and as a volunteer in the class, I witness how much time is wasted on reprimand and discipline and repeating the lesson, etc.
My kids aren't old enough yet for the health and sex ed lessons yet, but will most likely opt out. Obviously, that wouldn't be an issue if we were in Cath. school.

That is a very interesting point, but makes me wonder what the Catholic school does about children who are distracting due to autistic/add/etc since they don't have the county provided extra teachers to help them in class? Do the Catholic Schools refer out those who need assitance and are disruptive to class?

Yes, that is the downside to Catholic education. They do not have the funding, or the public mandate, to meet EVERY child's needs. If I had a child with these concerns, I would have to look at the public school system.

[Anonymous]

Their budgets are too small to compete with what fairfax county offers. If you want an equal education you must pay 30-50k a year at potomac, st stephens etc...

[Anonymous]

OP, you can still get speech, OT, etc. from the public school system even if you go to Catholic school. They are mandated to serve every child who has these needs. The only problem is you have to get them to the school to have these services. My mother used to pick my youngest sister up from Catholic school once a week, drive her to the public where she got speech therapy (and then drive her back? I don't know if this was the end of the day or what. I do recall my mom always trying to schedule it for something she considered "extraneous" like during her regular p.e. period.)

Nowadays, I too have a child who needs speech but we have chosen to go private b/c I work and I could not do all this juggling during the daytimes. But we did go through the Child Find process and were deemed to be eligible for the service; it's just that we declined it. We could have accepted it if we wanted to. They do not care what school you go to. They have to serve the entire population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you can still get speech, OT, etc. from the public school system even if you go to Catholic school. They are mandated to serve every child who has these needs. The only problem is you have to get them to the school to have these services. My mother used to pick my youngest sister up from Catholic school once a week, drive her to the public where she got speech therapy (and then drive her back? I don't know if this was the end of the day or what. I do recall my mom always trying to schedule it for something she considered "extraneous" like during her regular p.e. period.)

Nowadays, I too have a child who needs speech but we have chosen to go private b/c I work and I could not do all this juggling during the daytimes. But we did go through the Child Find process and were deemed to be eligible for the service; it's just that we declined it. We could have accepted it if we wanted to. They do not care what school you go to. They have to serve the entire population.

If a disability is present, the public school is obligated to create a service plan. They list what the child needs and what they will offer. Catholic school families often decide to go to the related service provider privately (Speech, OT, like we did) and that way the Catholic School teacher and the service provider can work together. The public school provides case management.

If the child needs accomodations (text to speech software, ADHD help, etc.) the Catholic schools in Fairfax are generally under the Diocese of Arlington, which has guidelines and supports for those students.

What each school offers differs (as does tuition) and parents are expected to pitch it to meet their child's individual needs (like a reading tutor after school) but it is a partnership.

My son has ADHD and a "hint of quirk". He fits right in in Catholic school. There are quirkier kids than him in his school, and many of the behaviors seen as negative are lessened by the structure of the program and the caring support of the teachers who are not in a battle with families like we saw in public school. It is a much more collaborative scene, in my experience.

My other child has a hearing issue. He was a "504" kid. Never had 1 problem with compliance in Catholic school. In public school he was often given extra seatwork for not hearing what people said in crowded rooms, like gym & the cafeteria. It was bonkers.

Both my kids say that the Catholic school teachers "don't scream" like their other teachers do, and when I ask what they like about school they say their teachers love them.
I also find (biased opinion....) the middle school kids appear to be more innocent than the middle school kids I used to work with in my old job, but I worked in some tougher socio-economic settings, so that may not be fair. The kids are generally kind to one another, even if they are not "friends" because they know their parents are friends, the siblings are friends, and it is the right thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole Catholic Schools don't have well qualified teachers and strong academics is just not true. We are in Fairfax in a very good school district and our daughter attends Catholic School. Her teacher last year was getting her masters to be a reading specialist and all of the teachers at her school are more than qualified and have been at the school for many years.

Our school has strong academics. You need a 93 average to get an A, which is higher than Fairfax--Fairfax lowered this to a 90 a few years back. There is foreign language, new computers and tablets being added every year. Recess every day in all grades.

We decided against our local public school because the entire school was just too big. 5 classes per grade was not going to work for us.

We know all the families in our grades and feel that the school, the teachers and admin staff knows our daughter well.

School time start worked better for working families too.

We do not regret for one second sending our child to Catholic school over our very good Fairfax County school.

Strongly disagree. We tried parochial in Fairfax but the teachers were simply not in the same league as the public. One child went through Langley and had 10 different AP courses to select from in every subject plus Russian and Japanese as additional options to the regular offering of foreign languages. She received a superb education and is doing well in college. Her transition from Langley (2400) to a University of 30,000 was seamless. That would not have happened if we had stayed in parochial school. In our current private for another child EVERY teacher has a Master's degree. That's the problem with parochial schools - the bar for teaching is set too low and too often parents are used in the classroom as aides. There is not the same level of professionalism as there is in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole Catholic Schools don't have well qualified teachers and strong academics is just not true. We are in Fairfax in a very good school district and our daughter attends Catholic School. Her teacher last year was getting her masters to be a reading specialist and all of the teachers at her school are more than qualified and have been at the school for many years.

Our school has strong academics. You need a 93 average to get an A, which is higher than Fairfax--Fairfax lowered this to a 90 a few years back. There is foreign language, new computers and tablets being added every year. Recess every day in all grades.

We decided against our local public school because the entire school was just too big. 5 classes per grade was not going to work for us.

We know all the families in our grades and feel that the school, the teachers and admin staff knows our daughter well.

School time start worked better for working families too.

We do not regret for one second sending our child to Catholic school over our very good Fairfax County school.

Strongly disagree. We tried parochial in Fairfax but the teachers were simply not in the same league as the public. One child went through Langley and had 10 different AP courses to select from in every subject plus Russian and Japanese as additional options to the regular offering of foreign languages. She received a superb education and is doing well in college. Her transition from Langley (2400) to a University of 30,000 was seamless. That would not have happened if we had stayed in parochial school. In our current private for another child EVERY teacher has a Master's degree. That's the problem with parochial schools - the bar for teaching is set too low and too often parents are used in the classroom as aides. There is not the same level of professionalism as there is in public.

Looks like you and I have very opposite experiences.

[Anonymous]

We found the academics at Catholic schools to be far behind the publics. And the earning your way into he advanced classes was strictly by teachers choice. Since my DS had 99% on the SSAT and they felt he should be in the slow class, I passed. I did not want to be part of that community. Made 97th % on the SAT, so I felt it was the right choice for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole Catholic Schools don't have well qualified teachers and strong academics is just not true. We are in Fairfax in a very good school district and our daughter attends Catholic School. Her teacher last year was getting her masters to be a reading specialist and all of the teachers at her school are more than qualified and have been at the school for many years.

Our school has strong academics. You need a 93 average to get an A, which is higher than Fairfax--Fairfax lowered this to a 90 a few years back. There is foreign language, new computers and tablets being added every year. Recess every day in all grades.

We decided against our local public school because the entire school was just too big. 5 classes per grade was not going to work for us.

We know all the families in our grades and feel that the school, the teachers and admin staff knows our daughter well.

School time start worked better for working families too.

We do not regret for one second sending our child to Catholic school over our very good Fairfax County school.

Strongly disagree. We tried parochial in Fairfax but the teachers were simply not in the same league as the public. One child went through Langley and had 10 different AP courses to select from in every subject plus Russian and Japanese as additional options to the regular offering of foreign languages. She received a superb education and is doing well in college. Her transition from Langley (2400) to a University of 30,000 was seamless. That would not have happened if we had stayed in parochial school. In our current private for another child EVERY teacher has a Master's degree. That's the problem with parochial schools - the bar for teaching is set too low and too often parents are used in the classroom as aides. There is not the same level of professionalism as there is in public.

I think this may be true on the high school level. Even I (one of the proponents of Catholic school here on this thread) went to public (Langley High School) for high school b/c my parents did not think that O'Connell offered the same opportunities. Like the poster above me said, there are just so many other electives and choices. My daughters currently go to a parochial school in the Arlington Diocese but we too will probably go public for high school level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We found the academics at Catholic schools to be far behind the publics. And the earning your way into he advanced classes was strictly by teachers choice. Since my DS had 99% on the SSAT and they felt he should be in the slow class, I passed. I did not want to be part of that community. Made 97th % on the SAT, so I felt it was the right choice for him.

It sounds like again you are talking about high school level.