St. Bernadette (Silver Spring) Feedback/Experience

[Anonymous]

We are considering moving to Woodmoor and would like any feedback that folks have on the parish school in the neighborhood - St. Bernadette. How are the academics (care most about reading writing, math; don’t care much about foreign language, art, sports)? How is the community at the school? Do kids mostly go private after or do some go to Blair?

[Anonymous]

Bump^

[Anonymous]

Everyone I knew who tried it only stayed a year. Five or six families. None badmouthed it, they just moved to another private or to a public.

[Anonymous]

We know several very happy families there, but it wasn't the right choice for our family. The parish is fairly conservative, which does bleed into the school in good ways and bad. The good is that they still teach cursive and spelling and ethics. The bad is that our family would really stand out there, and not in the best ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I knew who tried it only stayed a year. Five or six families. None badmouthed it, they just moved to another private or to a public.

Thank you. Any sense of why? Changing schools on your kids is not something most people do lightly.

[Anonymous]

I knew one family who left because the school wasn't able to adequately deal with their child's learning disability. They were much happier in public.

[Anonymous]

I know one family who seems happy with the school

[Anonymous]

Extremely clique-y for those "lived in woodmoor for 5 generations" types. Hard drinkers.

[Anonymous]

All of the above posts are consistent with what I have heard: very judgey and cliquey. SAHMs ruled, while moms who worked were given the stink eye and marginalized.

[Anonymous]

OP here - any feedback on the academics? Also, one of us is a SAHP, so maybe we would be part of the "in" clique....

[Anonymous]

We have a child at St. B's (now our third year) and have been very happy with the academics. They differentiate instruction in reading, math and spelling from the earliest grades. I was very impressed with the amount of writing done in first grade. I thought science was very well-done too. Classes are small (most under 20) but there are two per grade so the kids can be re-mixed every year and benefit from lots of teacher attention. Overall the school is very well-run. The best value for your money in grade school Catholic education in southern MoCo, in my opinion. I can't comment on the Woodmoor parent social scene as much since we do not live in Woodmoor, but we are members of the parish and found it the most welcoming of all the ones we attended when we first moved to Silver Spring. The best way to find out about it is to come tour the school (anytime). You can get a decent feel for the social scene by coming to a "Friday night on the field", which is K-2 soccer practice and a big social event for kids in all grades (and parents) - Fridays from 5:30-8ish thru Sept/October on the field behind the school. Good luck with your decision!

[Anonymous]

We are dealing with some very bad mean girl drama. On the plus side, school is working hard to fix it. On the negative- some of the girls are really mean! Also, although there were clear signs of trouble, the school didn’t contact us until we contacted them.

Academics are fine, but not the greatest. We are considering switching schools next year.

[Anonymous]

If you like to socialize and you like lots of extra curricular activities...this is the school for you. Academics/teachers are hit and miss. Some awful and some good. We have struggled with administration (not new principal though), discipline system, and poor math instruction overall. If you have a strong student they may be fine. There is a lot of clique actiionn as far as some parent groups---but others are welcoming. You have to find your "group". Each grade level has a different vibe socially. Our children love the school despite any issues we've had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Extremely clique-y for those "lived in woodmoor for 5 generations" types. Hard drinkers.

not 5th gen woomoor....more like multi generational dc catholic school alums/can't afford bethesda, cheby chase etc....!!! Woodmoor was blue collar back in the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I knew who tried it only stayed a year. Five or six families. None badmouthed it, they just moved to another private or to a public.

Financial commitments may be a reason...only gets more expensive and then HS too!!