Trying to decide between OLGC and St. Mark Catholic schools in Vienna - any advice?

[Anonymous]

I am a NP, but I’ll say to look very closely. We might have been looking at the same 4 schools as you based on the area. We ended up choosing Saint Luke and are very pleased with our decision after some of the OLGC feedback we heard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a NP, but I’ll say to look very closely. We might have been looking at the same 4 schools as you based on the area. We ended up choosing Saint Luke and are very pleased with our decision after some of the OLGC feedback we heard.

Thank you so much! The issue right now is st Luke starts in the fours and we’re looking for 3s. I was thinking of seeing how it goes for one year then potentially switching to st. Luke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a NP, but I’ll say to look very closely. We might have been looking at the same 4 schools as you based on the area. We ended up choosing Saint Luke and are very pleased with our decision after some of the OLGC feedback we heard.

Thank you so much! The issue right now is st Luke starts in the fours and we’re looking for 3s. I was thinking of seeing how it goes for one year then potentially switching to st. Luke.

We looked at St. Luke - it is a nice school but one big drawback was that there is only one class per grade. As kids get older, this can be very limiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Arent there country club types in every private school in northern Virginia/MD/DC area whether it's religious or not religious. I can't imagine a small catholic school has more than Potomac?
All the schools we toured Potomac, Little Langley, St Luke, OLGC, Beauvoir, Stoneridge for our DD going into K has these types.
I'm more worried about bullying in schools? How does OLGC address? As compared to the other schools?

OLGC brought an expert in to lecture the students, parents, and teachers about bullying and while well-intentioned, it was a bit bizarre and those who most needed to attend didn't bother. Basically the way the school is addressing bullying by driving out those who are being bullied. Encouraging parents whose kid are bullied to try to work it out themselves. Lots of talk of kindness and praying and no action. Several families have pulled their kids or are pulling their kids at the end of the year and going elsewhere because of the lack of addressing.

You cannot solve these problems in a school unless you are a strong leader who can have an impact on culture. These parishes get money hungry, jack up class sizes to 29 and let any family in which results in a watering down of Catholic culture and values. Bullying?! That kid and their family should be pulled into the office so quickly their head would spin. Teachers should be emphasizing and encouraging values within their classes. Pastors and principals need to be strong instead of mamby- pamby bc they don’t want to upset the apple cart. Many parish schools screen applicants and families to see if they are a good fit and will rescind contracts if families are not a good fit. not sure why this isn’t happening at this school.

It doesn't happen at this school because the Administration and Staff are bullies themselves, hiding behind religion and "kindness". We pulled our daughter because of this.

You’re talking about OLGC this fall? What kind of bullying (no need to get detailed just curious bc I have toddlers). We are equally distant from 4 catholic schools which were equally considering but had heard great things about OLGC. Did something change?

^ It looks like OLGC is trying to rectify this situation and are being more selective as to whom they admit into their K and older grades. Some of these issues happened post pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a NP, but I’ll say to look very closely. We might have been looking at the same 4 schools as you based on the area. We ended up choosing Saint Luke and are very pleased with our decision after some of the OLGC feedback we heard.

Thank you so much! The issue right now is st Luke starts in the fours and we’re looking for 3s. I was thinking of seeing how it goes for one year then potentially switching to st. Luke.

We looked at St. Luke - it is a nice school but one big drawback was that there is only one class per grade. As kids get older, this can be very limiting.

We were initially concerned about the same, but in practice it has not been an issue. The class gets sub-divided for many classes (foreign language for one, along with art and music, and then in middle school, the class is divided for accelerated math tracks, science, STEM, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a NP, but I’ll say to look very closely. We might have been looking at the same 4 schools as you based on the area. We ended up choosing Saint Luke and are very pleased with our decision after some of the OLGC feedback we heard.

Thank you so much! The issue right now is st Luke starts in the fours and we’re looking for 3s. I was thinking of seeing how it goes for one year then potentially switching to st. Luke.

We looked at St. Luke - it is a nice school but one big drawback was that there is only one class per grade. As kids get older, this can be very limiting.

Did you end up picking OLGC? How has it been?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Arent there country club types in every private school in northern Virginia/MD/DC area whether it's religious or not religious. I can't imagine a small catholic school has more than Potomac?
All the schools we toured Potomac, Little Langley, St Luke, OLGC, Beauvoir, Stoneridge for our DD going into K has these types.
I'm more worried about bullying in schools? How does OLGC address? As compared to the other schools?

OLGC brought an expert in to lecture the students, parents, and teachers about bullying and while well-intentioned, it was a bit bizarre and those who most needed to attend didn't bother. Basically the way the school is addressing bullying by driving out those who are being bullied. Encouraging parents whose kid are bullied to try to work it out themselves. Lots of talk of kindness and praying and no action. Several families have pulled their kids or are pulling their kids at the end of the year and going elsewhere because of the lack of addressing.

You cannot solve these problems in a school unless you are a strong leader who can have an impact on culture. These parishes get money hungry, jack up class sizes to 29 and let any family in which results in a watering down of Catholic culture and values. Bullying?! That kid and their family should be pulled into the office so quickly their head would spin. Teachers should be emphasizing and encouraging values within their classes. Pastors and principals need to be strong instead of mamby- pamby bc they don’t want to upset the apple cart. Many parish schools screen applicants and families to see if they are a good fit and will rescind contracts if families are not a good fit. not sure why this isn’t happening at this school.

It doesn't happen at this school because the Administration and Staff are bullies themselves, hiding behind religion and "kindness". We pulled our daughter because of this.

You’re talking about OLGC this fall? What kind of bullying (no need to get detailed just curious bc I have toddlers). We are equally distant from 4 catholic schools which were equally considering but had heard great things about OLGC. Did something change?

^ It looks like OLGC is trying to rectify this situation and are being more selective as to whom they admit into their K and older grades. Some of these issues happened post pandemic.

What bulling? Our kids are so young that we really don't know whats going on out there. Is it cyber bullying? In person bullying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Arent there country club types in every private school in northern Virginia/MD/DC area whether it's religious or not religious. I can't imagine a small catholic school has more than Potomac?
All the schools we toured Potomac, Little Langley, St Luke, OLGC, Beauvoir, Stoneridge for our DD going into K has these types.
I'm more worried about bullying in schools? How does OLGC address? As compared to the other schools?

OLGC brought an expert in to lecture the students, parents, and teachers about bullying and while well-intentioned, it was a bit bizarre and those who most needed to attend didn't bother. Basically the way the school is addressing bullying by driving out those who are being bullied. Encouraging parents whose kid are bullied to try to work it out themselves. Lots of talk of kindness and praying and no action. Several families have pulled their kids or are pulling their kids at the end of the year and going elsewhere because of the lack of addressing.

You cannot solve these problems in a school unless you are a strong leader who can have an impact on culture. These parishes get money hungry, jack up class sizes to 29 and let any family in which results in a watering down of Catholic culture and values. Bullying?! That kid and their family should be pulled into the office so quickly their head would spin. Teachers should be emphasizing and encouraging values within their classes. Pastors and principals need to be strong instead of mamby- pamby bc they don’t want to upset the apple cart. Many parish schools screen applicants and families to see if they are a good fit and will rescind contracts if families are not a good fit. not sure why this isn’t happening at this school.

It doesn't happen at this school because the Administration and Staff are bullies themselves, hiding behind religion and "kindness". We pulled our daughter because of this.

You’re talking about OLGC this fall? What kind of bullying (no need to get detailed just curious bc I have toddlers). We are equally distant from 4 catholic schools which were equally considering but had heard great things about OLGC. Did something change?

^ It looks like OLGC is trying to rectify this situation and are being more selective as to whom they admit into their K and older grades. Some of these issues happened post pandemic.

What bulling? Our kids are so young that we really don't know whats going on out there. Is it cyber bullying? In person bullying?

7th grade last year(unkind words) They have taken a hard stance and the school is in a much better place. Zero tolerance for this kind of behavior

[Anonymous]

OLGC seems to attract the more cliquey moms and families - the ones who drink together at the fish fry on Fridays, etc. and St Marks seems to be a bit more wholesome - neither is good or bad, just preference. We know many families at both and teachers at both and all are happy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a NP, but I’ll say to look very closely. We might have been looking at the same 4 schools as you based on the area. We ended up choosing Saint Luke and are very pleased with our decision after some of the OLGC feedback we heard.

Thank you so much! The issue right now is st Luke starts in the fours and we’re looking for 3s. I was thinking of seeing how it goes for one year then potentially switching to st. Luke.

We looked at St. Luke - it is a nice school but one big drawback was that there is only one class per grade. As kids get older, this can be very limiting.

From my experience with two children in Catholic education and now in high school, having only one class per grade is indeed extremely limiting and not what one would ideally want for their child's school experience. Especially in middle school, these ages can be hard enough.