Tell me about Good Counsel

[Anonymous]

Big school. Small class sizes. Extremely competitive admissions. Expensive. Disciplined. Amazing school spirit. More grounded than most privates. Outstanding theater and sports.

[Anonymous]

We are an incoming family. They talked about how they do things to make the big school feel smaller, such as an advisory 3 times a week. The counselors seem to have more bandwidth than those in MCPS, which is our point of comparison. For students that seek out help from teachers, there is time built into the day to meet. Nowhere is perfect but we are feeling optimistic and more importantly so is our kid. Hopefully he will advocate for himself and use the resources that are made available.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Larger class size is one of the reasons GC is $30K (with lunch) and not $40K.

Smaller class size requires more teachers which increases costs.

If the difference between a Catholic high school and a public high school aren’t obvious, then no one on here is going to explain it to you. Catholics want their faith and community and family traditions reinforced. If those things aren’t important to you, Catholic schools aren’t for you.

The schools exist for these purposes and not to supply non-Catholics with more budget friendly alternatives to public schools. That may be why some struggle to understand.

Umm, I am Catholic and went to Catholic schools my whole life. But thanks for explaining. And there are actually plenty of smaller Catholic schools around. But if you want a diluted version that emulates a big public high school, that's your choice.

[Anonymous]

Tons of MAGA tells you the education level of parents

Many support kavanugh like he’s a god. The guy whose wife is afraid of him and oh dear had all his debts wiped clean.

Great Catholic education if that’s your priority fantastic school. Many people are super happy.

Graduates I know went off to University South Carolina, High Point University, York in PA, Villanova , and a host of small Catholic colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tons of MAGA tells you the education level of parents

Many support kavanugh like he’s a god. The guy whose wife is afraid of him and oh dear had all his debts wiped clean.

Great Catholic education if that’s your priority fantastic school. Many people are super happy.

Graduates I know went off to University South Carolina, High Point University, York in PA, Villanova , and a host of small Catholic colleges.


Pretty sure you are confused. Your are describing GP. GC families I know are are Nasa engineers, Hopkins surgeons, well respected business owners, and artists of different genres. The academics are extremely rigorous, especially the AP/IB track.

[Anonymous]

I worry about the MAGA thing and it sounds believable given where the school is located. I mean Olney isn't exactly the bastion of progressive politics, diversity and tolerance. Plus, I've heard that many of the parents there just dump their kids at GC to avoid the public schools, so there isn't an intentional building of a community with shared values, motivation and cohesion.

[Anonymous]

It’s a big diverse school with lots to offer. But the idea that it’s no different than the big publics around here is bullshit. On average they are much bigger. And the little snobby privates that cost so much more are insular and stifling and grow get smaller on you every year. A school the size of GC is a good compromise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worry about the MAGA thing and it sounds believable given where the school is located. I mean Olney isn't exactly the bastion of progressive politics, diversity and tolerance. Plus, I've heard that many of the parents there just dump their kids at GC to avoid the public schools, so there isn't an intentional building of a community with shared values, motivation and cohesion.

Those days are gone. Post pandemic they are highly selective, draw from a large area, are more diverse than most publics, and somehow also kind and welcoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worry about the MAGA thing and it sounds believable given where the school is located. I mean Olney isn't exactly the bastion of progressive politics, diversity and tolerance. Plus, I've heard that many of the parents there just dump their kids at GC to avoid the public schools, so there isn't an intentional building of a community with shared values, motivation and cohesion.

The draw from Baltimore and Bowie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18 kids from St Elizabeth’s in Rockville are in the incoming freshman class at OLGC. That’s a huge number from a parish that’s equally close to St. John’s and almost walking distance to Prep and Holy Cross.

They should not accept this many kids from one school. They need to diversify the freshman class to avoid cliquishness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18 kids from St Elizabeth’s in Rockville are in the incoming freshman class at OLGC. That’s a huge number from a parish that’s equally close to St. John’s and almost walking distance to Prep and Holy Cross.

They should not accept this many kids from one school. They need to diversify the freshman class to avoid cliquishness.

St Elizabeth is the largest parish school in the Archdiocese. And while the parish may be equidistant to SJC, many of the students are from north of Montrose Road, such as Gaithersburg, Germantown, and even Olney. Going to SJC just doesn’t make as much sense if you live and work outside of the beltway.

Also, I wouldn’t compare Prep or AHC to GC. Many parents want a co-ed learning environment for their children or don’t want to pay a Prep tuition level.

As far as diversifying the freshman class, 18 out of roughly 300 is not a huge percentage. Based on location, many of the Rockville area Catholic schools are going to feed into an Olney area large co-ed school that can meet the needs of many different interests and learning styles.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone ever been placed on a waiting list? How did you get off the waitlist this was my son first choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone ever been placed on a waiting list? How did you get off the waitlist this was my son first choice.

People will decline their spots and then they will fill those spots. A friend's son got off of the waiting list last year. We were also accepted and will be declining our spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone ever been placed on a waiting list? How did you get off the waitlist this was my son first choice.

People will decline their spots and then they will fill those spots. A friend's son got off of the waiting list last year. We were also accepted and will be declining our spot.

Do you know how long he was on the waiting list?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18 kids from St Elizabeth’s in Rockville are in the incoming freshman class at OLGC. That’s a huge number from a parish that’s equally close to St. John’s and almost walking distance to Prep and Holy Cross.

They should not accept this many kids from one school. They need to diversify the freshman class to avoid cliquishness.

That's a lot like BS kids to Visi. There are feeders.

[Anonymous]

I know next to nothing about this school because it was too far out, however, it's taking three of our top girls from our K-8 this year. They were super impressed by the STEM and honors program and one of them is choosing it over Visi and a Big 3 school.