catholic vs. Public School curriculum or rigor
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
It's Francis. And please do cite your numbers that bring you to the conclusion about the "majority" of the teachers in all these Catholic schools. That's quite some inside info you must have. |
Anonymous
Those posters probably grew up going to catholic schools. My own parents thought the catholic school they forced me to go to was great, but actually it sucked (poor academics, not many activities/sports, cliquish). |
Anonymous
This has been exactly our experience as well. We are also in the Arlington diocese. |
Anonymous
have you had a kid or kids in both? My experience was the opposite. The Catholic school teachers valued students who were docile, reverent etc. That was a good kid. Public school teachers have really allowed our DC to blossom. No comparison/ |
Anonymous
| We jumped from a fairly traditional conservative Catholic school in NOVA into AAP, and so did a few others who could get in. The ones who stayed had parents who valued the religious aspect of the education, but most were not the brightest bulbs. |
Anonymous
St. Marys. We've had nothing but a positive experience with the school, especially with his teachers. We have friends at SSSA and we compared the curriculum for 1st grade - the children were on the same learning path. |
Anonymous
I'm not hating, I'm just expressing my disappointment. That's all. |
Anonymous
| I would do private in Alexandria |
Anonymous
| We did the very good publics in McLean and then switched to a never-mentioned parish school in McLean. It was the right move for our family. There are lots of different measures of "better." |
Anonymous
. You probably are identified with hypocrisy. |
Anonymous
Wow, those are some sweeping generalizations you've made there. You know enough about all the relative merits of catholic and public schools in DC, PG, MC, FC, and Arlington to make a statement like this? |
Anonymous
I live in South Arlington and I am having a tough time deciding whether or not to send my DD to our local public elementary school (which is one of the best in south Arlington but just OK countywide) or Catholic. We are also practically guaranteed admission to one of the immersion schools because our local school belongs to the designated priority neighborhood cluster (this policy may change for next year). I am not thrilled with the size of the immersion school (700+ kids) but have heard great things about the program. The overcrowding/school capacity issue and potential for more boundary issues down the road in APS are not appealing. So, I am not sold on my public school options. From what I have read in other discussions, I realize some people would say I am a fool not to go public in Arlington. That said, I am Catholic, attended Catholic schools myself (not in this area) and had a good experience so I am seriously considering that option for my DD. My husband is not Catholic so all he wants is for our DD to be educated with the best academic curriculum and rigor and be exposed to positive social influences. I have done extensive research on the nearby diocesan schools in Alexandria, Arlington and Washington, DC and have come up with a shortlist of options. Most of these schools in my shortlist are high-performing/have the Blue Ribbon designation, have strong and stable leadership by the Principal, the majority of teachers have a Masters Degree, and there is minimal staff turnover. Two schools are small with one class per grade while the others have two classes per grade. One of these schools does not have a gym and does not have a hot lunch program but location-wise is very convenient compared to the others. I'm trying to focus on academics first and foremost but I'm finding it hard to compare the curriculum in Arlington Diocese vs. Archdiocese of Washington schools. I wonder if one is considered stronger than the other by area high schools and colleges in terms of how well-prepared academically students are? Or are the top schools in each basically doing the same job of preparing students. If anyone has advice or experiences to share that can help me prioritize I would be so grateful! Oh, although there has been no mention of schools by name, in this thread, my shortlist of schools is St. Agnes in Arlington and OLV, St. Peter School, and Holy Trinity in DC. |
Anonymous
| Depends on the catholic school and the public school. Catholic schools generally take the old fashioned approach of having actual textbooks and testing kids on content such as chapters, etc. This does NOT happen in any public elementary school. Rather, kids are somehow assessed without the parents knowing what the assessment entails and without the child having to study or prepare. Similarly, catholic schools expect kids to work independently and they assign much more homework. Thanks to 2.0 in mcps, my kids barely have any homework, whereas my nephews in catholic school have hours each night. |
Anonymous
| Bump. Can anyone compare little flwer to mcps publics? |
Anonymous
| What I deeply hate about these conversations is that the school is only part of the equation. The student is the other big part of the picture. Every school has a wide spectrum of children some are average, some above, some below. Some will do great in any environment, some will not. Also there is the dynamic of each class and teacher. I went to a top public school and my children attend a Catholic school because it is a better fit for us. I would never point out my issues with public schools because I understand my experience is mine. I dislike sweeping generalizations about DCPS as much as I do about parochial schools. I really feel the statements, "I know a family..." are meaningless gossip because people rarely know the full story as to why a family left one school for another. |