St. Jerome and Holy Redeemer

[Anonymous]

I was told this board might be able to provide me with helpful information. I will be moving to the area for a job in PG county in the late summer. I have two daughters, the oldest will be entering Pre-K in the fall. I hope to visit a time or two before the move, but may have to make a school decision before then. I am currently considering two paths. Path one: I buy a home somewhere in North PG, probably along route 1 and send my girls to St. Jerome or Holy Redeemer. Path two: I buy a more expensive home in a good school district in Howard or Anne Arundel. So, I would love to hear how these two schools compare to each other, how they would compare to the top end public elementary school in Howard and Anne Arundel, and whether there are other schools I should consider.

I’ll say that I’ve found much more about St. Jerome on this board and others than I have about Holy Redeemer. St. Jerome seems really nice and I really like the idea that they have a child care center for our youngest daughter. However, I have not heard many people comment on how these schools would compare academically and socially to publics in other counties. Thank you for any help you can provide.

[Anonymous]

Both Holy Redeemer and St. Jerome are good schools with active communities. Holy Redeemer is a traditional small Catholic school - they have Spanish, music, art, computer. St. Jerome's has a classical curriculum which is new in the past several years, which is quite different. Latin is required and lessons have a very different structure. Overall, it can be a more conservative place with larger families and former homeschoolers. Both good, but quite different. Visit and spend time in the classrooms to see which is a better fit.

[Anonymous]

St Jerome is a more conservative traditional Catholic Community, if that means anything to you. I think Holy Redeemer may be more of a hidden gem, oddly. I would pick Redeemer over SJA, but I also think SJA is a fine catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Holy Redeemer is popular with parents who teach at UMD. It is more liberal, less Catholic.

[Anonymous]

St. Jerome Academy has more open spots than Holy Redeemer, so in the end, you may just have to go where there's a seat available.

[Anonymous]

I got the impression that Holy Redeemer was for less academically able kids. At least the kids I’ve known who have gone there vs those I’ve known at St. j. The early Montessori program at St. Jerome’s is great too.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thank you all for your thoughts. I’m somewhat torn. Being outsiders to Maryland and Catholicism, my wife and I don’t really know where we fall on the respective liberal/conservative continua. I would say we are basically moderate and I know whether I’m perceived to be politically liberal or conservative changes depending on where I live. However, as parents, I think we tend to be more traditional than most of our peers but certainly are not extreme. I think I will ask to speak with current parents at both schools. Hopefully, that will give me more insight into the schools and what the parents are like.

[Anonymous]

St. Jerome has great reviews from all of my friends with kids there, BUT the classes are huge. 30+ and only one class per grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got the impression that Holy Redeemer was for less academically able kids. At least the kids I’ve known who have gone there vs those I’ve known at St. j. The early Montessori program at St. Jerome’s is great too.

IME, there is a range of abilities at both school (as you will find at most Catholic schools). There is a higher population of former homeschooling families at St. Jerome and in general, they seem to be more academically oriented. Also, people come from father afield for the classical curriculum and those parents also tend to be very informed about educational styles.

[Anonymous]

Well, there's always the local public school too.

[Anonymous]

I would suspect both come out ahead of their local public schools, but I don't know anything about the public schools you are considering. Generally, though academics are strong in Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Our friends at St Jerome are very happy there but when my husband and I visited we were not impressed. The curriculum bills itself as classical and innovative but to my husband who attended catholic school most of his childhood he said it felt like they were reinventing the wheel. And not in an inclusive way, rather, it seemed very conservative and even a little rigid. I am not Catholic and felt the same way. I’ll admit we lean crunchy but wanted to check it out because there has been such positive buzz. I have also heard class sizes are large and tuition increases have been steep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our friends at St Jerome are very happy there but when my husband and I visited we were not impressed. The curriculum bills itself as classical and innovative but to my husband who attended catholic school most of his childhood he said it felt like they were reinventing the wheel. And not in an inclusive way, rather, it seemed very conservative and even a little rigid. I am not Catholic and felt the same way. I’ll admit we lean crunchy but wanted to check it out because there has been such positive buzz. I have also heard class sizes are large and tuition increases have been steep.

I appreciate your insight. Did you view any other parochial schools nearby? If so, what were your impressions?

[Anonymous]

The only other parochial school we considered was St Jerome in Cheverly. We felt it was far more inclusive and liked the strong principal(no longer there) and active parent community, but honestly were not wowed by the curriculum either. It seemed academically no stronger than our local public school, Spellman Elementary in Cheverly and that’s where we ended up and we have been happy. We also considered Friends Community School, which is not parochial, but impressed us all around — but just couldn’t bring ourselves to pay that much for these early elementary years.. I don’t know much else about the other parochial elementary schools in the area, sorry but hope this was helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only other parochial school we considered was St Jerome in Cheverly. We felt it was far more inclusive and liked the strong principal(no longer there) and active parent community, but honestly were not wowed by the curriculum either. It seemed academically no stronger than our local public school, Spellman Elementary in Cheverly and that’s where we ended up and we have been happy. We also considered Friends Community School, which is not parochial, but impressed us all around — but just couldn’t bring ourselves to pay that much for these early elementary years.. I don’t know much else about the other parochial elementary schools in the area, sorry but hope this was helpful.

St Ambrose is the Catholic school in Cheverly.