Catholic Private School Insights

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want a Parish school, stick with your local parish school. They’re all very similar. All follow archdiocese rules, all hire from the same pool of teacher, variations between schools are transient and unpredictable.

Maybe you can go one parish over, especially if drop off times are significantly different or you’re trying to enroll multiple kids at once and one school just doesn’t have the space. But it’s weird when families go to a different school than their geographic parish. Kind of feels like an interloper.

No it doesn't. You are a weirdo. You must be one of those moms who lives at the school all day, "helping" (being nosey). Literally, no one even thinks about that and I grew up going to Catholic schools.

[Anonymous]

Little flower is very much a neighborhood school. I’d be completely shocked if anyone is coming from VA. It’s also heavily conservative. If you’re interested in the heights that might be what you’re into. Holy Trinity is around 50% people from Virginia. For the most part, they come because of how conservative the VA schools are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any Little Flower/Mercy families able to share their perspectives? Would love to know if there are any McLean/Virginia families

Little Flower is old money. Families come from outside the immediate geographic area, think Potomac, because it’s their family parish. So there will be plenty of families driving in, but not too many from McLean. You could probably do it most days, but might hate your life if you’re thinking this is a school for 10 years. Lots of families with generations of membership at Congressional or Chevy. Their kids start with friends in the class from the club. So you might feel left out.

I disagree with nearly all of this. There are more younger new professionals than "old money" by far. Most families live very close geographically to the school. Families that consider it their "family parish" do so because they still live in the area. And more families are Kenwood than the other two clubs combined, and a fair number are not country club people at all. I don't find the parents pretentious. They're certainly less community-minded than in years past, but I get that sense from every school post-pandemic.

[Anonymous]

I recommend picking a school close to where you live, which in your case would be St. Luke (or St. John the Beloved). When we lived in Chevy Chase, we picked HTS over Blessed Sacrament, our perfectly good "local" school, because we liked HTS better for various reasons. HTS was fine (although the lack of outdoor space is more of an issue than I realized when we picked it), but looking back, the physical distance caused a lot of small negatives that added up. For example, the further you are from school, the more time your kids (and you) spend in the car, every single day. That can mean less sleep because they're waking up earlier, going to bed later, etc. Playdates are harder if you aren't close, especially after school playdates. If you live in McLean and pick a school in DC/MD, your kids' little league/rec soccer/etc. team is going to play and practice in Maryland and DC, so a 45 minute activity is going to eat up your whole afternoon. Your CYO track meets will be in PG county. Obviously it's doable, but all of that extra commuting just makes it all harder, and harder on your child. We live in McLean now and I cannot imagine having to drive across the bridge for every single one of my child's activities. Also if you live close enough, your kid can walk to school by middle school, which is a great opportunity for independence. All of these parish schools have roughly similar profiles - you will get some terrific veteran teachers, as well as some recent college grads, your child will do first communion prep with their friends, there will be some things you like and some things you don't - so you can't really go wrong with your local school. If you really really want an ADW parish school and/or high school, I recommend moving to Maryland.