St. Patrick’s vs NPS

[Anonymous]

We applied to both but not sure which one to pick if we’d be admitted to both. Any thoughts or insight would be appreciated!

[Anonymous]

More similar than different. NPS is a bit sweeter and more low key. St Pats is a tad more academic. Both really great schools. I’d base my decision on the other families/parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More similar than different. NPS is a bit sweeter and more low key. St Pats is a tad more academic. Both really great schools. I’d base my decision on the other families/parents.

Very true. NPS a bit sweeter, more low key. St Pats if you want to be with other parents trying to climb socially.

[Anonymous]

We also looked at both St Patrick's and NPS. In the admissions process, I did get the impression that NPS was "sweeter" as others have mentioned. Their admissions team really rolls out the welcome mat for families and makes everyone feel warm and welcomed. St Pats felt slightly colder in admissions, BUT, the sense I got from the classroom environment was one that was nurturing and caring.

We ended up selecting St Pat's because we did feel that the curriculum seemed more thoughtful and well planned and we didn't get the same impression from NPS (and truly, not saying that NPS has a poor curriculum, we haven't lived it, and we know students there who are quite successful).

I also got the sense that NPS was a bit more conservative and traditional, and for our family, the slightly more progressive educational approach at St. Patrick's seemed to be a better fit.

We have been very happy with St. Patrick's so far. The teachers and administrators have been incredibly responsive to my child's needs. We have met many nice families who don't seem to be "social climbers". Most of the parents I run into are friendly and care about the kids. My child is happy and thriving and has definitely made lots of growth socially and emotionally since we started there and we've also noticed that his thinking and reasoning skills are dramatically improving every month. Maybe it's school, maybe it's normal development? We just know we feel that we made the right choice for our child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More similar than different. NPS is a bit sweeter and more low key. St Pats is a tad more academic. Both really great schools. I’d base my decision on the other families/parents.

Very true. NPS a bit sweeter, more low key. St Pats if you want to be with other parents trying to climb socially.

+1. Their parent community is famous for this.

[Anonymous]

K-6 vs K-8 is a bigger deal than one might think. If OP has a plan where DC will go next, that is relevant to the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More similar than different. NPS is a bit sweeter and more low key. St Pats is a tad more academic. Both really great schools. I’d base my decision on the other families/parents.

Very true. NPS a bit sweeter, more low key. St Pats if you want to be with other parents trying to climb socially.

+1. Their parent community is famous for this.

Its just one group though. Most of the parents are not like this. Its sad that particular group (many were friends long before St Pats) all went to St Pats as they very much changed the tenor of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More similar than different. NPS is a bit sweeter and more low key. St Pats is a tad more academic. Both really great schools. I’d base my decision on the other families/parents.

Very true. NPS a bit sweeter, more low key. St Pats if you want to be with other parents trying to climb socially.

+1. Their parent community is famous for this.

Its just one group though. Most of the parents are not like this. Its sad that particular group (many were friends long before St Pats) all went to St Pats as they very much changed the tenor of the school.

I think many of them end up at the same schools as well after St. Pats so when people think of St. Pats they think of those types of people. It’s probably not fair to the rest of the St. Pats families but I think that’s where they get the reputation from.

[Anonymous]

I think 7th is a much better time for a transition than 9th. That being said, unless you want to move your child after 2 years, it doesn’t really leave room for the catholic high schools so if you are seriously considering those you may want to do St Patrick’s and have a place to stay through 8th. We have a lot of NPS families at our single sex school and I think they’re all really nice girls and families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More similar than different. NPS is a bit sweeter and more low key. St Pats is a tad more academic. Both really great schools. I’d base my decision on the other families/parents.

Very true. NPS a bit sweeter, more low key. St Pats if you want to be with other parents trying to climb socially.

+1. Their parent community is famous for this.

Its just one group though. Most of the parents are not like this. Its sad that particular group (many were friends long before St Pats) all went to St Pats as they very much changed the tenor of the school.

I think many of them end up at the same schools as well after St. Pats so when people think of St. Pats they think of those types of people. It’s probably not fair to the rest of the St. Pats families but I think that’s where they get the reputation from.

+ 1 we had two or three social climbing St. Pats families enroll at DD’s school last year. They’re the worst. Though it’s nice to hear that all of the families aren’t like them.

[Anonymous]

St. Pat's is incredibly wealthy to the point where even though most don't try to flaunt their wealth, it's just unavoidable. But, for the most part, people are fairly low-key.

As far as social climbing, I honestly have no idea what people are talking about. Lots of families there are already fairly established. I admit there are a few, but the rest seem fairly secure.

Aside from the usual parents on the infamous Dexter St and that surrounding neighborhood, the rest of the parents are friendly enough. I am of color and UMC parent, I never had too many problems. The worse was that I was mistaken as a cook, but that family is known to be terrible and luckily my daughter has moved on to other friends.

I have gotten that from white people that are well below my class level and I don't assume that the parents at St. Pat's are immune to it.

[Anonymous]

PP here,

What's social climbing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Pat's is incredibly wealthy to the point where even though most don't try to flaunt their wealth, it's just unavoidable. But, for the most part, people are fairly low-key.

As far as social climbing, I honestly have no idea what people are talking about. Lots of families there are already fairly established. I admit there are a few, but the rest seem fairly secure.

Aside from the usual parents on the infamous Dexter St and that surrounding neighborhood, the rest of the parents are friendly enough. I am of color and UMC parent, I never had too many problems. The worse was that I was mistaken as a cook, but that family is known to be terrible and luckily my daughter has moved on to other friends.

I have gotten that from white people that are well below my class level and I don't assume that the parents at St. Pat's are immune to it.

Oh my goodness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Pat's is incredibly wealthy to the point where even though most don't try to flaunt their wealth, it's just unavoidable. But, for the most part, people are fairly low-key.

As far as social climbing, I honestly have no idea what people are talking about. Lots of families there are already fairly established. I admit there are a few, but the rest seem fairly secure.

Aside from the usual parents on the infamous Dexter St and that surrounding neighborhood, the rest of the parents are friendly enough. I am of color and UMC parent, I never had too many problems. The worse was that I was mistaken as a cook, but that family is known to be terrible and luckily my daughter has moved on to other friends.

I have gotten that from white people that are well below my class level and I don't assume that the parents at St. Pat's are immune to it.

Oh my goodness.

I have no idea why this would shock you. This is pretty much a common occurrence in the POC world. I don't really let it bother me because there's nothing wrong about being a cook. Also, it's also a character flaw to treat people differently because of their occupation. I might correct them, but eventually they will figure it out and have to deal with awkwardness.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say St Pats is more academic, and think that they are fairly comparable in terms of outplacement (though would give NPS the edge).

Both schools have caring teachers and administrators and well thought out curricula. I wouldn't trade the elementary only experience for a K-12 for a million dollars.

See where you feel most comfortable as a family and go from there.