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

[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?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Even though the curriculum is the same, yes it’s very teacher dependent. I would look at teacher retention and in general level of experience of teachers. Also at some of the bigger schools (2 tracks) they are able to offer Geometry as an 8th grader which is important to some families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Even though the curriculum is the same, yes it’s very teacher dependent. I would look at teacher retention and in general level of experience of teachers. Also at some of the bigger schools (2 tracks) they are able to offer Geometry as an 8th grader which is important to some families

Thanks. Yes -- both OLGC and St. Mark I believe offer the advanced math option.

[Anonymous]

She didn't move to a different state. She is the current principal and Linton Hall and people loved her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Nope. Nope. Definitely describing the sitting principal.

[Anonymous]

Bump

[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!

She did not move to a different state. There actually have been three principals in the last 10 years. The first retired after not really meshing with the new pastor who came in and wanted the school to be more innovative and not just keep doing the same thing. The second was amazing and implemented a lot of programs to make the school more inclusive and to teach all types of students with new resource programs for those who needed and advanced opportunities for those who needed challenges. She created an academic student center. She managed during COVID to make the school successfully teach both in person and online at same time. She ran the school very efficiently but wasn't the warm fuzzy type. She had a long commute, though, and when her son went off to high school closer to their home, she left to be a principal at a school closer to home. The current principal, who has been in the job two years, really cares about the school and the parish and has been a long-time member of both. She is different than the last principal and has a cheerleader mentality and often wants to pray about problems. She is trying. Unfortunately, some of the advances have stalled or not continued. The population has also changed post-covid with more privilege/country club types and more bullying being left unaddressed. Lots of great families have left or considered leading so only time will tell where it goes.

[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!

She did not move to a different state. There actually have been three principals in the last 10 years. The first retired after not really meshing with the new pastor who came in and wanted the school to be more innovative and not just keep doing the same thing. The second was amazing and implemented a lot of programs to make the school more inclusive and to teach all types of students with new resource programs for those who needed and advanced opportunities for those who needed challenges. She created an academic student center. She managed during COVID to make the school successfully teach both in person and online at same time. She ran the school very efficiently but wasn't the warm fuzzy type. She had a long commute, though, and when her son went off to high school closer to their home, she left to be a principal at a school closer to home. The current principal, who has been in the job two years, really cares about the school and the parish and has been a long-time member of both. She is different than the last principal and has a cheerleader mentality and often wants to pray about problems. She is trying. Unfortunately, some of the advances have stalled or not continued. The population has also changed post-covid with more privilege/country club types and more bullying being left unaddressed. Lots of great families have left or considered leading so only time will tell where it goes.

The first principal you are speaking of was fired (or forced to resign) after the new pastor came in. The two subsequent principals have been promoted from within. The description of the current principal is accurate. She is a wonderful woman, but she was the religion teacher when we were there. If you are a prospective parent I'd try to probe the teacher qualifications. I was not impressed - my knowledge is dated now, but there was a Spanish teacher fired for being unqualified, a couple of long time teachers phoning it in, etc.

[Anonymous]

^ Arent there country club types in every private school in northern Virginia/MD/DC area whether it's religious or not religious. I can't imagine a small catholic school has more than Potomac?
All the schools we toured Potomac, Little Langley, St Luke, OLGC, Beauvoir, Stoneridge for our DD going into K has these types.
I'm more worried about bullying in schools? How does OLGC address? As compared to the other schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ Arent there country club types in every private school in northern Virginia/MD/DC area whether it's religious or not religious. I can't imagine a small catholic school has more than Potomac?
All the schools we toured Potomac, Little Langley, St Luke, OLGC, Beauvoir, Stoneridge for our DD going into K has these types.
I'm more worried about bullying in schools? How does OLGC address? As compared to the other schools?

OLGC brought an expert in to lecture the students, parents, and teachers about bullying and while well-intentioned, it was a bit bizarre and those who most needed to attend didn't bother. Basically the way the school is addressing bullying by driving out those who are being bullied. Encouraging parents whose kid are bullied to try to work it out themselves. Lots of talk of kindness and praying and no action. Several families have pulled their kids or are pulling their kids at the end of the year and going elsewhere because of the lack of addressing.

[Anonymous]

Love St Marks. I’ve had kids there for the past 9 years. 3 years to go and we’ve never thought about leaving the community. Great place with dedicated staff and very involved and supportive parents.