Catholic Parish Schools: Bethesda/Ch Ch/DC/Potomac/Rockville and others

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love my son to attend CS, as I did and my parents and so on...But the HUGE class sizes are a HUGE issue for me/my son.

It depends on how you look at it. My CS child has 31 students but has 2 teachers. In our public elem it says they have an average of 25 but with only 1 teacher. I wanted the smaller community (260 kids) of CS as opposed to the huge 700 in public for my family.

As for politics, we don't donate hardly anything but I do give my time. The response I have gotten from our priests and principal have been nothing but warm and appreciative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love my son to attend CS, as I did and my parents and so on...But the HUGE class sizes are a HUGE issue for me/my son.

It depends on how you look at it. My CS child has 31 students but has 2 teachers. In our public elem it says they have an average of 25 but with only 1 teacher. I wanted the smaller community (260 kids) of CS as opposed to the huge 700 in public for my family.

As for politics, we don't donate hardly anything but I do give my time. The response I have gotten from our priests and principal have been nothing but warm and appreciative.

You are very lucky, then. Most Catholic schools treat you better if you donate. Certainly, teachers are told to go easy on donor's children. I know from experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love my son to attend CS, as I did and my parents and so on...But the HUGE class sizes are a HUGE issue for me/my son.

It depends on how you look at it. My CS child has 31 students but has 2 teachers. In our public elem it says they have an average of 25 but with only 1 teacher. I wanted the smaller community (260 kids) of CS as opposed to the huge 700 in public for my family.

As for politics, we don't donate hardly anything but I do give my time. The response I have gotten from our priests and principal have been nothing but warm and appreciative.

This is a rarity. However, it is good that you donate your time. Usually, it is the same five to ten parents who donate their time and do all of the activities, which is frustrating. 31 is still a huge number, no matter how many teachers are in the room. The more children in one classroom, the more hectic the whole thing is, even with a teacher's aid.

[Anonymous]

From what I have seen, I think St. Elizabeth's on Montrose is the best. I've checked out many other schools, and St. Elizabeth meets a very high standard. Vincent Spadoni is a great principal. It's a little more pricey though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have much first hand experience with Our Lady of Lourdes but what I've heard about the school is the exact opposite of what the above poster has written. In fact, I've heard fabulous things about the gym teacher who also runs a much-loved summer camp program. I also understand that the parish is one of the more socio-economically diverse ones in the area. On the issue of Catholicity -- I don't know anything about the teachers but the parish itself is considered one of the more traditional ones in the area. The parish has sponsored a novena in advance of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, with homilies given by priests who are among the best preachers I've ever heard (with Dominicans, maybe even an Opus Dei priest or two).

The parish is traditional, though I have been unimpressed with the Masses that I have attended because of the delivery of the homilies. On the plus side it has a very active community. I have not heard good things about the school. I have a friend who's DD goes there and she echos the PP in terms of who runs the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You either work at or send your child to a Catholic school because you believe that you are going to be in a good environment that is an example of the Church. What I found is that I had very high expectations going to Lourdes. I believed that it was going to be the perfect Catholic school in academics and in spirit. I had been under the impression that students of all academic ranges were treated with respect and that it was the culture of the school to believe that every child could be successful. What I found is that though many people say that they are Catholic, they publicly spoke negatively about the Church, Church leaders, and beliefs. Few students actually go to church on Sunday and few members of the school community are active in their parish. When it came to academics we found that the talk was just talk and not being practiced. Students who made significant academic improvements were not congratulated for their progress but berated and were not believed to have made the progress on their own. It was a very disappointing experience. Our experience at Lourdes taught us that you don't have to send your child to Catholic school to have a Catholic education. There was clearly nothing Catholic at this school Students went to Mass, but the culture of the school was not Catholic. The Catholic education is given at home and in the choices your make and model for your child. I hope that other schools are more successful in modeling true Cathlicity in how people are treated.

WOW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I have seen, I think St. Elizabeth's on Montrose is the best. I've checked out many other schools, and St. Elizabeth meets a very high standard. Vincent Spadoni is a great principal. It's a little more pricey though.

I have heard wonderful things about Vincent Spadoni, too and about St. Elizabeth's!

[Anonymous]

Anyone know anything about Our Lady of Mercy in Bethesda?

[Anonymous]

Mercy (which is technically in Potomac) has a good reputation and is often known for athletics. The families tend to be affluent and many years it is hard to get spots due to the sheer numbers of siblings. Our friend didn't get his daughter in even though he and his sister are alums.

[Anonymous]

How is st. elizabeth in rockville,maryland?? What is tution for kindergartend

[Anonymous]

Is there anywhere that one can look at and compare test scores between parish schools? I assume they must all use the same standardized tests for evaluating student performance? This would at least give an objective piece of data to consider. As a spin off on the discussion, what are CCD programs like at these parishes? i.e liberal, traditional, old fashioned, contemporary, strict, fun, etc. AND which CCD programs seem to be the most effective? Is there a way to measure learning in CCD? For example, I remember as a kid that I didn't learn much in CCD but then went to Catholic School and learned everything I never learned in CCD.

[Anonymous]

If they're Blue Ribbon schools (which many are) their applications are on the Department of Education website and give test scores by grade over 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they're Blue Ribbon schools (which many are) their applications are on the Department of Education website and give test scores by grade over 5 years.

What about those that won their Blue Ribbon years ago? I think Mercy got their quite a while ago. Are they required to update scores to "keep" their Blue Ribbon? Or do they re-check the schools that earn it periodically? Can a school lose their Blue Ribbon once they get it?

[Anonymous]

I thought Our Lady of Mercy got a Blue Ribbon award this year. They don't have to update the scores year after year. It's a one-time award, not a continuing status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is st. elizabeth in rockville,maryland?? What is tution for kindergartend

This is an excellent school, they just opened a pre-k program. The tuition is around 6500, I think.