Catholic Schools in Silver Spring

[Anonymous]

I am looking for feedback on 3 Catholic schools in Silver Spring: St. Patrick's in Rockville (corner of Norbeck and Muncaster Mill); St. Peter's in Olney; and St. Andrews the Apostle in Wheaton. We are looking at K for next year. After attending open houses, speaking to a limited number of parents and participating in services at the churches, I am still trying to sort through the pros and cons. We do not know alot of families currently involved in the programs as we are just entering the school age scene. My priorities in choosing are personal safety, academic excellence and instilling a love for learning.

[Anonymous]

I have no personal experience with any of them. However, you do realize that parishioners are chosen first - specifically those who have been part of the community for quite some time. So whichever you choose, you'll have to start tithing right away. (I'm being honest, as I just recently knew of a friend whose son was asked to leave their Catholic preschool b/c although they donated on a regular basis, they didn't use the envelope system. So there was no record of their donations.)

I do know of people who are quite happy with St. Andrews. It's a larger school - more than one class per grade, and class size, for the most part, is large, which tends to be the case in most Catholic schools. And from my experiences, you will not have to worry about safety, academics or instilling a love for learning. But if your child does have learning issues, be prepared to handle the bulk of that on your own, as most Catholic schools aren't equipped with staff and/or resources to address certain learning issues.