Northern Virginia Catholic Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of curiosity, how many of the schools names here are easy for non-parishioners to get into? We were waitlisted at our local school as parish members. I'm curious if that's common around NoVa or just Alexandria.

The difficulty getting in for a parishioner is generally inversely related to the rating of the districted public school. ( so for example it’s easier for a Catholic resident of Falls Church City to get into Saint James than an Alexandria resident to get into Saint Mary’s or Blessed Sacrament.) Post Covid, however, admissions for most of the NoVa parish schools have been tougher across the board.

Interesting

[Anonymous]

You can tour St Anthony of Padua School in Falls Church and see if it's a good fit. DD was there for a year, and I'd just say that the teachers are a little old school, but if you're going for Diocese academics (which are standard across the Catholic schools in the area), it's worth checking out. They have a nice science lab and a well-refurbished library. In terms of teachers, it really depends on each individual. DD had some differentiation in math and writing exercises were definitely more than public school. I don't think they have full enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which k-8 parish schools have the best learning supports for child with dyslexia? Looking for a school that can accommodate an outside SLP coming into tutor the child during the school day twice a week. Do any of these schools have teachers are trained in Orton Gillingham reading strategies?

Accommodating an outside SLP will be hard at Diocesean schools unless that individual has gone through VIRTUS training/background check relating to child protection. I know at our school even parents coming in to volunteer at a party or help with recess has to have VIRTUS or they aren’t allowed.

[Anonymous]

Look up the 50 Year Old Secret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which k-8 parish schools have the best learning supports for child with dyslexia? Looking for a school that can accommodate an outside SLP coming into tutor the child during the school day twice a week. Do any of these schools have teachers are trained in Orton Gillingham reading strategies?

Holy Spirit in Annandale has a dedicated resource center for kids who need extra supports. https://www.holyspiritflames.org/inspiring-minds/resource-program-expanded-services/

Second this. They also have the dyslectic edge program after school and a Speech pathologist who comes to the school. Both are additional costs, but available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of curiosity, how many of the schools names here are easy for non-parishioners to get into? We were waitlisted at our local school as parish members. I'm curious if that's common around NoVa or just Alexandria.

From the grapevine, I’ve heard the parochial Alexandria schools are very hard to get into especially as non parishioners due to the exponentially growing population

This is very true. Know many parishioners waitlisted this cycle for an array of grades. They really need more classes.

[Anonymous]

OLGC has waitpool but just said it has openings for Pre-K, K, and 2nd I think. There was an announcement online. It is not impossible to get in - tuition is different for non-parishioners though. It says it looks at a variety of factors when pulling off waitlist, including parishioner status, whether the student has siblings, if someone is moving into state (military), etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OLGC has waitpool but just said it has openings for Pre-K, K, and 2nd I think. There was an announcement online. It is not impossible to get in - tuition is different for non-parishioners though. It says it looks at a variety of factors when pulling off waitlist, including parishioner status, whether the student has siblings, if someone is moving into state (military), etc.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which k-8 parish schools have the best learning supports for child with dyslexia? Looking for a school that can accommodate an outside SLP coming into tutor the child during the school day twice a week. Do any of these schools have teachers are trained in Orton Gillingham reading strategies?

Accommodating an outside SLP will be hard at Diocesean schools unless that individual has gone through VIRTUS training/background check relating to child protection. I know at our school even parents coming in to volunteer at a party or help with recess has to have VIRTUS or they aren’t allowed.

St Ambrose used to allow outside OG tutors, but that program may be at St Bernadette now.

[Anonymous]

St. Agnes has all lower school teachers trained in OG and has outside SLP and OT with proper insurance. St. Luke’s had an outside SLP that comes in a couple times a week.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure how much emphasis you are putting on the “excellent academics” part of your search, but generally in this area, the more academic schools tend to not be the Catholic parish schools. You may want to give a little thought about where you want your kids for HS and move backwards from that. For girls Catholic, Stone Ridge (MD) and Georgetown Visitation (DC) are probably the strongest academically. There are coed Catholic HS in VA (Bishop O’Connell or PVI), but they are not generally considered as strong academically as the all girls mentioned above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which k-8 parish schools have the best learning supports for child with dyslexia? Looking for a school that can accommodate an outside SLP coming into tutor the child during the school day twice a week. Do any of these schools have teachers are trained in Orton Gillingham reading strategies?

.

In early 2024, I toured all of the k-8 parish schools in northern Virginia. At that time, St. Agnes and St. Luke were the ONLY schools in NOVA that would accommodate an outside SLP coming in to tutor a student during the school day onsite. The issue is most do not allow outside providers to come into the school due to the insurance liability coverage required. All lower school teachers at St. Agnes were trained in OG. None of the teachers at St. Luke's were trained in OG. Hope that helps!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how much emphasis you are putting on the “excellent academics” part of your search, but generally in this area, the more academic schools tend to not be the Catholic parish schools. You may want to give a little thought about where you want your kids for HS and move backwards from that. For girls Catholic, Stone Ridge (MD) and Georgetown Visitation (DC) are probably the strongest academically. There are coed Catholic HS in VA (Bishop O’Connell or PVI), but they are not generally considered as strong academically as the all girls mentioned above.

Stone Ridge told us not to apply our daughter who has dyslexia for fourth grade. We were told "you deal with that somewhere else, and apply later once she doesn't need to be tutored by an outside SLP." We ended up at a k-8 parish school that has "excellent academics" proven by the fact that many of their students end up going to Stone Ridge and Visi for high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but I live in Mclean and this is interesting because there are definitely lifers in this area especially on the Potomac/Little Langley crowd and it’s annoying (where our DS/DD are at). Actually looking at St Luke’s and OLGC (we are Catholic) for a change of the country club clique like parents who all know each other

There's lifers and a country club in Vienna too.

OP, this is Washington. If you are buying a $2m house and chosing private school, there will be cliques surely. I'd guess St James the least so, but can't say really.