Recent experiences with St Joseph's Preschool in Falls Church?

[Anonymous]

We are considering this for little one, who will be 2.5 when he starts this fall. We toured their facility about a year ago and were not very impressed. Mostly what we didn't like was that the environment seemed very chaotic. Also the food they were serving did not seem very healthy. We put our name on the list anyway, just as a back-up, as they didn't seem to have as long of lists as the places in Arlington.

We recently returned for another tour and it seemed that some things had changed (for the better). It seems they have tried to revamp their menus to be healthier, which is great. They had also made some changes to the 2-yr-old classrooms where they've broken the class up a bit, which is great. However, the larger of the two classes still had the chaos, as did much of the other classrooms. The teachers in general did not seem to have much order in their classrooms and the noise level was very high (at least compared to other places we've toured, including Little Ambassadors in Arlington, Bright Horizons on Carlin Springs, and Reston Montessori). I'm very much an introvert so loud spaces bother me and I couldn't see learning in that environment, but maybe it's not as hard for 2-yr-olds. Also, they seemed actually against a Catholic education which just confused me.

Any thoughts from folks who currently have their kids there to help in this decision?

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

I'm also considering sending DC to St. Joseph's - but am a little apprehensive because I haven' t run into any other parents who send their children there. Nor have I seen many other threads discussing the school. I would be very interested for any feedback from current parents - positive or negative.

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

We are in our first year at St. Joseph's and couldn't be happier. It's a small school, and I think I've realized that's the reason you don't meet many families who sent their kids there, it's small and there's very little turnover among the families.

The 2's room does seem large and overwhelming, but with 5 teachers in there, the ratio is still really small. I had been worried about how my shy DD would do in a louder room and so far she's doing great and learning a tremendous amount as well as really gaining in social skills.

We toured a number of preschools and so many were spiffy and high tech and shiny. That's all good, I'm not knocking it. By contrast, St. Joseph's is an old school preschool. Kids' artwork is on the walls, the school's fish tank and pet fish reside in the lobby and there aren't computers in the classrooms. One of the things I love about it is that everyone there knows my kid. The cook, the religion teacher, the teachers of all the older grades. They all know her by name and readily give her hugs when she runs up to them.

Old school doesn't mean the educational preparation isn't 21st century, though. All the lead teachers have or are close to gaining degrees in education or child development and a few of them have masters degrees. There are new teachers, but many have also been there for years. The director is fabulous, having instituted a new approach to curriculum and is actively pursuing NAEYC accreditation for the school.

Meals are nutritious and prepared onsite daily. Two snacks plus lunch are included in the incredibly reasonable tuition. All the classes, including Pre-K have a 2hr nap/rest time each day.

In addition, they offer a number of specials that you can pay additional fees for. An outside program for soccer weekly in the spring, a creative movement class, a computer class, a music class and a Spanish class (taught in-house). In terms of the Catholic aspect, it isn't pushed on the kids. There is a simple non-denominational grace before lunch and a 20min chapel each week. In addition they do recognize and teach a little bit about Lent, Advent, the Sign of the Cross. Although many of the families are Catholic and some do head to St. James a block away for elementary school, it is a very heterogenous school. This year the 2s class had a presentation on Hanukkah by one of the kid's parents.

Communication is great. Monthly school-wide newsletters, weekly emails from the director and a weekly email from the teachers with the lesson plan. All this in addition to the basic daily report in your child's folder. There is a PTO organization as well, although the teachers aren't much involved.

I could go on for days and am happy to answer more questions if you post them. No place is perfect, but of all the places we visited including some well-regarded Montessori and immersion schools, St Joseph's was the place we felt most at home.

[Anonymous]

Just hit submit and realized how long my post was. Sorry, hope it answers your questions!

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your detailed post. It's very helpful.

Posters from months/years prior had complained about a lack of emphasis on hygiene. Have you noticed that/had a problem with the emphasis on hand washing etc.? Notice more flu/random epidemics than you would expect from a preschool program?

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you so much for your detailed post. It's very helpful.

Posters from months/years prior had complained about a lack of emphasis on hygiene. Have you noticed that/had a problem with the emphasis on hand washing etc.? Notice more flu/random epidemics than you would expect from a preschool program?

Thanks again!

No flu outbreak this year, although the standard runny noses that make their rounds at any daycare, preschool or elementary school. If anyone comes down with strep, flu, or any other contagious illness the director sends a school-wide email alerting parents that "a case of strep has been confirmed in the Dolphins class. Here are the symptoms of strep - x, y, z. Reminder of our sick child policy" so I'm pretty sure regarding the amount and type of illnesses making their way around the school.

The kids wash their hands after pottying and coming in from playing. Sometimes I think it's probably better than others in terms of the quality of the hand-washing, but it is done. This winter they instituted a new semi-voluntary policy asking parents to wash hands with their kids as they arrive in the morning so that everyone starts the day having washed off germs brought in from the outside.

[Anonymous]

The handwashing isn't as rigorously implemented as I would like. My DD came down with a multitude of illnesses this winter at St joe but could be because it was a bad winter generally. She was quite sick last winter too though. Their hygiene regime could use improvement.

[Anonymous]

OP here - 19:43, thank you SO MUCH for the detailed feedback. This is oh so helpful to us in our decision. It's so good to hear from someone with current experience given that it seemed like there were quite a few changes from last year.

[Anonymous]

Any other thoughts - re: hygine or anything else about the preschool? This has been extremely informative!

[Anonymous]

I just had to respond because my child has been at St. Joe's for a while and I feel the above review is shockingly one-sided. I have many opinions on the school in general, but I wanted to highlight that the religion is pushed MUCH more than they claimed before we enrolled. My family is not very religious, and I think religion is the one thing that my child consistently brings home from school..from saying a prayer at the table, telling me that God created everything, and asking about Jesus. The children are being taught how to say Hail Marys this month in honor of mother's day. This is absolutely fine, but it is quite misleading to suggest that religion is a small or negligible part of the experience at this school.

[Anonymous]

11:07 that is interesting because we specifically asked about religion and were told that the only religious aspect is grace before meals and once a week chapel time which is optional.

Any other feedback on St. Joseph's? I'm more interested in feedback on the care, teachers, administration, etc. than the religious aspect. Basically, do you feel like your child is well cared for there, do you see any red flags, are there any issues that have come up?

[Anonymous]

Bump.
Any other parents at St Joseph's that wish to share anything about the school? Thank you

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would appreciate more feedback too. I am looking to place my daughter there within the next year and am surprised that there isn't a great deal of feedback on the school.

[Anonymous]

My son was offered a slot at St Joseph's for fall 2014. I recently toured the classrooms and I did find them to be a bit free-for-all (and noisy) but the kids and teachers all seemed happy and engaged. I didn't get a great vibe from the director though, as she seemed to be avoiding some of my questions and slightly annoyed when I asked about learning in addition to play.

I would really appreciate current feedback especially since my son may be there for 3 years if I enroll him. I'd like a playful environment but also some classroom order in the older rooms (so they get used to a school environment before entering K). Also, I'm interested in some limited academics at a child's own pace, in addition to learning the alphabet and counting to 10.

Thanks for any feedback!!