What’s it like at St. John’s in DC?

[Anonymous]

SJC gives preference to kids coming from the catholic feeder schools. There are many kids from DC and other publics. They aren't bussing kids to pro life marches but it has semi regular masses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does SJC have a list of current acceptances like the other privates?

For some strange reason, their list is very vague and doesn't give a time frame. Just a list of all colleges students got accepted to for all time. This is not helpful at all. Most schools give at the very minimum for a three year period and some pinpoint the most recent year. I suspect their list is not all that impressive when looking at a short period of time like 1-3 years.

I saw a video from last year’s SJCHS graduation. The valedictorian went to MIT, and the salutarian to Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SJC gives preference to kids coming from the catholic feeder schools. There are many kids from DC and other publics. They aren't bussing kids to pro life marches but it has semi regular masses.

This year’s picture of the number of kids choosing to attend the pro-life march was eye opening. I think there were about only 30 kids (out of a school with @1200 students).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St John's is $23,000.

Gonzaga is $25,000

But as pointed out above St John's is not very similar to the group of schools most think of as DC area private schools. (St Albans, Sidwell, Maret, Holton Arms, Landon, etc)

In many ways, it's more similar to a suburban public high school than it is to what most people think of as a private school.

It's a great school if you are interested in a Catholic school and you want an alternative to the public schools.

SJC has a definite public school field--but without the behavioral issues.

Having sent two kids to SJC (they attended local public schools for elementary), I’d say there is definitely a difference with public not just based on behavior, but also community. At SJCHS, the teachers and administration will definitely know your kid, and there is an emphasis on helping others and supporting everyone in the community. People are happy to be there.

SJC is NOT like a suburban public high school and no one who has attended or sent a kid thinks so. It is a private college prep catholic HS with a great reputation for community, service, sports, theater, and its military program. Most kids are genuinely happy to be there. Size alone wouldn’t let it be compared to any DMV suburban public high school.

This is the pp. I meant a public high school “back in the day” when they actually disciplined kids and kids did not backtalk or hit their teachers.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any updated experience to share with the Benilde program here? We have a daughter who is accelerated in math and english/writing in public school but who has pronounced ADHD, so trying to find a high school fit for her. Any feedback would be great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does SJC have a list of current acceptances like the other privates?

For some strange reason, their list is very vague and doesn't give a time frame. Just a list of all colleges students got accepted to for all time. This is not helpful at all. Most schools give at the very minimum for a three year period and some pinpoint the most recent year. I suspect their list is not all that impressive when looking at a short period of time like 1-3 years.

I saw a video from last year’s SJCHS graduation. The valedictorian went to MIT, and the salutarian to Stanford.

FWIW I know a SJC student going to Harvard next year. Nothing comprehensive school-wide but top SJC students do well w college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Would anyone who was admitted this year (or waitlisted/denied) mind sharing their child's GPA? DD is a strong student but with one B in her core classes which leaves her with a 3.75 GPA for her 7th grade year. I would love to know how kids with similar grades did with admissions. We are currently at a DCPS. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any updated experience to share with the Benilde program here? We have a daughter who is accelerated in math and english/writing in public school but who has pronounced ADHD, so trying to find a high school fit for her. Any feedback would be great.

DC is set to start the program in the fall. When I was looking for information I posted in the special needs forum for additional information.

[Anonymous]

Not to be a downer but my kid did not like SJC at ALL. Said students were like lemmings- no room for individuality. I found the parent groups to be straight out of the 1950s. And the academics were very underwhelming.l - truly old school style pedagogy. Maybe things have changed a lot in the past 4 years but our experience wasn’t good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to be a downer but my kid did not like SJC at ALL. Said students were like lemmings- no room for individuality. I found the parent groups to be straight out of the 1950s. And the academics were very underwhelming.l - truly old school style pedagogy. Maybe things have changed a lot in the past 4 years but our experience wasn’t good.

I debated responding to this post because I’ve experienced first hand now two students can have very different experiences at the same school and a lot depends on their personality, the teachers, if they connect with the kids in their class etc. So your kid not having a good experience isn’t debatable. However, knowing both kids where it’s been a positive experience as well as kids that have transferred it would be helpful to understand more of the context behind the unhappiness so parents using the post to help inform their decisions can assess if they might likely face the same situation.

- What specifically was your child looking for in terms of acceptance and individuality that they didn’t find anyone likeminded at SJC and were they able to find that at a different private school?
- How involved were you with the parent group - attended meetings, volunteered etc, and in what way did you feel that it was straight out of the 1950’s?
- With the academics, was your child taking honors classes, were they behind or not prepared for college (if they graduated from SJC) or another high school if they transferred?
- what were they looking in terms of teaching style and what private high school do you believe best matches that style?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any updated experience to share with the Benilde program here? We have a daughter who is accelerated in math and english/writing in public school but who has pronounced ADHD, so trying to find a high school fit for her. Any feedback would be great.

Benilde would be great for her since the program is designed for the kids to take the same classes (including honors and AP) as all the other kids at SJC but with added supports. My DS sounds very similar to your daughter though he excelled in science and writing. Terrible, just terrible at math and foreign language. They do a great job of balancing what the child can do really well and where they need help. Easing them into Freshman year is great too. There is a lot of maturing that goes on during high school and he was out of the program his senior year. My DS is now a chem major at a T15 school doing really well. He is registered with the disability office at college too though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to be a downer but my kid did not like SJC at ALL. Said students were like lemmings- no room for individuality. I found the parent groups to be straight out of the 1950s. And the academics were very underwhelming.l - truly old school style pedagogy. Maybe things have changed a lot in the past 4 years but our experience wasn’t good.

I have a child at SJC and one at public. Honors classes at SJC. English curriculum and teaching far better than public. Science mixed. Math equal. Language (in our experience at least) abysmal. Fine arts way superior. Grading is much more rigorous at SJC. May pose some challenges in a test optional world. We initially liked the mixed political environment but it has gotten less tolerant (like everywhere) especially on LGBQT issues. Kids are not lemmings but many are from K-8 Catholics so more sheltered than public kids. Second that parent groups are from the fifties — that might be overly generous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to be a downer but my kid did not like SJC at ALL. Said students were like lemmings- no room for individuality. I found the parent groups to be straight out of the 1950s. And the academics were very underwhelming.l - truly old school style pedagogy. Maybe things have changed a lot in the past 4 years but our experience wasn’t good.

I have a child at SJC and one at public. Honors classes at SJC. English curriculum and teaching far better than public. Science mixed. Math equal. Language (in our experience at least) abysmal. Fine arts way superior. Grading is much more rigorous at SJC. May pose some challenges in a test optional world. We initially liked the mixed political environment but it has gotten less tolerant (like everywhere) especially on LGBQT issues. Kids are not lemmings but many are from K-8 Catholics so more sheltered than public kids. Second that parent groups are from the fifties — that might be overly generous.

Not sure I understand the parent group feedback. What does the 1950s viewpoint translate into at the school?

[Anonymous]

I am not sure about the parents group comment either. I have multiple kids who have gone to SJC and I have never gone to the Mother's Club and my DH hasn't gone to the Men of SJC things either. Our kids are in sports and theater. We just do those things. I know the Mother's Club is active but it is high school. You can be as engaged or not engaged as you would like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure about the parents group comment either. I have multiple kids who have gone to SJC and I have never gone to the Mother's Club and my DH hasn't gone to the Men of SJC things either. Our kids are in sports and theater. We just do those things. I know the Mother's Club is active but it is high school. You can be as engaged or not engaged as you would like.

Absolutely true you can be as engaged or not as you choose in the parent groups. But tell me that “ Mother’s Cub”” vs “Men of St. John’s” does not pretty much make the point?