Saint Patrick’s Episcopal Day School
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Anonymous
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I’m a St. Patrick’s parent, and I would agree with posters that say the level is low. The school works hard to remediate, but lacks sufficient challenge for bright kids. It is a warm, lovely place though. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The academics at St. Pat’s start to go off the rails as early as second or third grade. They do not challenge, or provide any enrichment for advanced kids — parents have to do that entirely on their own.
The newish head of school does not appear to care about academics or the curriculum at all. Tons of parents are trying to get their kids out of there after the third grade. It is no longer a school that does a good job of preparing kids academically and that is across disciplines — math, reading, writing, grammar and Spanish. It has become embarrassing and definitely not worth the tuition. [/quote] Former parent here. This is 100% spot on and why we left, along with many others. [/quote] Current St. Pat’s parent. Totally agree with posters above! |
Anonymous
| It sounds like St Pats is strong with literacy but weaker in math. The outplacement also looked good so we’re leaning towards this school over another K-8. |
Anonymous
| We currently have a couple kids at St. Pat's. We love the community and would make the same choice again. |
Anonymous
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2 kids at the school - one in elementary and one in middle. i think the math program was weak but now is better. 5th grade was particularly weak, but i've been very impressed with the middle school academics. they historically don't separate kids into tracts for math until middle school but have now started a math club to challenge kids in elementary who want to do more. we plan to stay the whole way through for both kids.
also they just announced plans to build a new middle school which will open in 2 years. |
Anonymous
| If the academics are so weak, why do they do so well in outplacement? Their results are the best that I’ve seen in the K-8 schools in the area. |
Anonymous
How do know they are so great at outplacement? They don’t report per class. |
Anonymous
Many legacy parents. |
Anonymous
| Actually, it incredibly transparent. It states the school and the first name of the graduate: https://www.stpatsdc.org/admission/high-school-placement. |
Anonymous
Yeah the list showing outplacement per graduating student is not that impressive. I would say about half of the class are going to a school that can labeled a suboptimal outcome. The list that is impressive that includes the boarding schools etc is a list that includes 5 class years. |
Anonymous
This feels like trolling, not trying to help people understand differences between schools. I recommend people take a look at the St. Patrick's outplacement page, and then do the same for other schools they are considering, and make up their own minds. |
Anonymous
| Not trolling. I also thought that the St Patrick’s list was impressive as I was looking at their list of “day schools attended” and “boarding schools attended”. However that list contains 5 classes in the dataset. When I looked at the graphic showing where each kid went by first name, I noticed that most kids were not attending what most consider to be the top schools. |
Anonymous
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Current St. Pat's parent here! Two children still there, one has graduated. This year's 8th grade has gotten into wonderful schools, both boarding and day. What is really interesting is the number of kids turning down NCS and "better" schools for those that aren't the "top 3." It seems to speak more about NCS and those schools than the 8th graders.
Academics ramp up and differentiate more in middle school. One of my kids ended up taking advanced classes and the one who has graduated started freshman year taking sophomore year math and honors english classes. The elementary years are kind and warm with the intention of not drowning in homework. So, I do bet DCPS gives more homework, but does not necessarily result in a better outcome. You have to trust the process that at the end of 8th grade your children will be prepared for the next step, which is the point of an N-8th school! But if you are desperate to end up at Sidwell or GDS, whether it is the right place for your kid or not, then you are one of the people who will panic and leave early! |
Anonymous
Where are the students turning down NCS and “better” schools choosing instead? |
Anonymous
| This year it seems like Madeira and Bullis. |