Can someone give me a rundown of the Catholic high schools?

[Anonymous]

Our daughter is a 7th grader at a K-8 parish based school in Chicago area where we currently live (moving to this area in July) and was planning on applying to a Catholic high school here, but obviously that won't happen. Of course we have some time next fall to investigate but I'm just trying to get a run down of what our options are. We will be living in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of DC, so preferably something a reasonable distance to there. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

LMGTFY

Archdiocese of Washington (includes independents like Gonzaga and SJC) - http://adw.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2015_ADWbrochure_nomarks.pdf
Diocese of Arlington - https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/catholicschools/secondary.aspx

Location will be key to your search - not all of these are commutable from Cleveland Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LMGTFY

Archdiocese of Washington (includes independents like Gonzaga and SJC) - http://adw.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2015_ADWbrochure_nomarks.pdf
Diocese of Arlington - https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/catholicschools/secondary.aspx

Location will be key to your search - not all of these are commutable from Cleveland Park.

Thanks. I am able to do a Google search. I am more looking for personal experiences, the "vibes" of the different schools, etc.

[Anonymous]

there are basically 3 possible options for a girl if you are living in Cleveland Park and want a Catholic high school:

Visitation--all girls

St. John's--co-ed

Stone Ridge--all girls, technically an option but would be roughly 30 min or more commute.

All are good schools, quite different. Look at their websites and that will give you a better flavor of their philosophies and cultures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LMGTFY

Archdiocese of Washington (includes independents like Gonzaga and SJC) - http://adw.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2015_ADWbrochure_nomarks.pdf
Diocese of Arlington - https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/catholicschools/secondary.aspx

Location will be key to your search - not all of these are commutable from Cleveland Park.

Thanks. I am able to do a Google search. I am more looking for personal experiences, the "vibes" of the different schools, etc.

Sport?
Coed?
Long Commute OK?
Metro to School OK?
AP Level Classes a Requirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:there are basically 3 possible options for a girl if you are living in Cleveland Park and want a Catholic high school:

Visitation--all girls

St. John's--co-ed

Stone Ridge--all girls, technically an option but would be roughly 30 min or more commute.

All are good schools, quite different. Look at their websites and that will give you a better flavor of their philosophies and cultures.

+ Holy Cross (all girls)
+ Oak Crest (all girls)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LMGTFY

Archdiocese of Washington (includes independents like Gonzaga and SJC) - http://adw.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2015_ADWbrochure_nomarks.pdf
Diocese of Arlington - https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/catholicschools/secondary.aspx

Location will be key to your search - not all of these are commutable from Cleveland Park.

Thanks. I am able to do a Google search. I am more looking for personal experiences, the "vibes" of the different schools, etc.

Sport? ---> cross country and soccer
Coed? No preference. The high schools we were looking at here are Co-ed, but that's because the single sex schools here just aren't very good
Long Commute OK?----> preferably less than 30 minutes
Metro to School OK?----> yes
AP Level Classes a Requirement?----> nope

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:there are basically 3 possible options for a girl if you are living in Cleveland Park and want a Catholic high school:

Visitation--all girls

St. John's--co-ed

Stone Ridge--all girls, technically an option but would be roughly 30 min or more commute.

All are good schools, quite different. Look at their websites and that will give you a better flavor of their philosophies and cultures.

3 very different and very good schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our daughter is a 7th grader at a K-8 parish based school in Chicago area where we currently live (moving to this area in July) and was planning on applying to a Catholic high school here, but obviously that won't happen. Of course we have some time next fall to investigate but I'm just trying to get a run down of what our options are. We will be living in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of DC, so preferably something a reasonable distance to there. Thank you!

Where will she be for 8th? A few of the high schools have middle schools too - Stone Ridge comes to mind (all girls)
. It would be a bit of a hike from Cleveland Park but doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LMGTFY

Archdiocese of Washington (includes independents like Gonzaga and SJC) - http://adw.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2015_ADWbrochure_nomarks.pdf
Diocese of Arlington - https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/catholicschools/secondary.aspx

Location will be key to your search - not all of these are commutable from Cleveland Park.

Thanks. I am able to do a Google search. I am more looking for personal experiences, the "vibes" of the different schools, etc.

Sport? ---> cross country and soccer
Coed? No preference. The high schools we were looking at here are Co-ed, but that's because the single sex schools here just aren't very good
Long Commute OK?----> preferably less than 30 minutes
Metro to School OK?----> yes
AP Level Classes a Requirement?----> nope

Take a look at St. Johns aka SJC. It's coed, has great girls sports programs. XCountry and Soccer are easier to get in vs Basketball, tho. Wealthy alumni pouring big $ into a campus overhaul - in the next couple years, just about everything on campus will be either new or recently renovated. Very diverse. It's De Ls Salle Christian Brothers. It's 3 miles or so from the Cleveland Part Metro and an easy Metro trip - requires a bus from either Tenleytown or Friendship Heights.

Other alternative is Holy Cross, which is a few more stops up the Red Line into MD. It's all girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there are basically 3 possible options for a girl if you are living in Cleveland Park and want a Catholic high school:

Visitation--all girls

St. John's--co-ed

Stone Ridge--all girls, technically an option but would be roughly 30 min or more commute.

All are good schools, quite different. Look at their websites and that will give you a better flavor of their philosophies and cultures.

+ Holy Cross (all girls)
+ Oak Crest (all girls)

+ Holy Child (all girls)
+ Brookewood (all girls)
+ Bishop O'Connell (coed)
+ Good Counsel if she's up for a really long bus ride (coed)

[Anonymous]

There are some in northern VA. O'Connell wouldn't be too far, and I don't know about the others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LMGTFY

Archdiocese of Washington (includes independents like Gonzaga and SJC) - http://adw.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2015_ADWbrochure_nomarks.pdf
Diocese of Arlington - https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/catholicschools/secondary.aspx

Location will be key to your search - not all of these are commutable from Cleveland Park.

Thanks. I am able to do a Google search. I am more looking for personal experiences, the "vibes" of the different schools, etc.

You probably ought to start by understanding more about the different areas of the City and the structure of the Catholic community here in DC. Your assumptions based on your Chicago experience aren't going to work here in Washington.

While the Catholic population in Chicago is a mixed bag of ethnic groups (Irish, Italian, German, etc), here the Irish are the dominant group. And many of them have lived here for several generations. The parishes and the parish schools are different based on the neighborhoods/towns in which they sit. (Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac is different from Holy Redeemer in Kensington) Blessed Sacrament at Chevy Chase Circle serves that area and there are lots of old line Catholic families there.

Stone Ridge and Visitation appeal to the same socio-economic group. But Visitation is more often the darling of the more established families.

Your best bet is to talk to people at whatever Parish you join (if you join one). They'll of course have their favorite and loyalties.

Catholic schools are a big deal here in Washington. You can see that by the sheer number and the range of them.

[Anonymous]

The parishes that are in the Cleveland Park area (Zip 20008) are St Thomas Apostle (2665 Woodley Rd, NW) which is served by Annunciation School (3825 Klingle Pl, NW) and Our Lady, Queen of Americas (2200 California St., NW) which is served by St Jude Regional School (which is in Rockville).

You might also consider Blessed Sacrament parish and school which are located at Western Ave. and Conn. Avenue.

St John's College High School on Military Rd. between Connecticut and 16th Street would be the nearest Catholic HS to you in Cleveland Park. The school is experiencing a remarkable rebirth driven by the investment of alumni money.

[Anonymous]

The good news is that there is literally something for everybody in DC Catholic schools - single sex, coed, very bookish, very sporty. If you are living in Cleveland Park, you will be a short hop to just about everything. You might want to think about living a bit further into upper NW so that you have more schools in range. I don't know Chicago schools, but DC Catholic schools are quite competitive to get into - especially the single sex and independent schools.