St. Patrick’s vs NPS

[Anonymous]

OP, what do you like about each school?

[Anonymous]

My DS goes to NPS. He loves it, and we love families at NPS. The general culture at NPS is very warm and nurturing. We are URM family, and we have always felt included.

As much as we love NPS, we have also met St Patrick families and all of them were super nice as well. I kind of agree the comment above about "shy moms considered as snobby". This was the case for me for 99% of moms that I met (actually not at NPS but his prior preschool). Now I try not to judge until I really get to know them.

Overall, the culture at NPS is just not very snobby, but more modest. Maybe a bit traditional, but also plenty of liberal families there (like us) as well as probably more conservative ones.

Honestly I think both schools are great. We also considered St. Pat's, but for us we wanted a school that ends at 6th rather than 9th. That was the main difference. Also, the commute is nicer for us for NPS.

Just my two cents - my observation is that NPS is particularly really good with two groups of kids - very shy, and very active kids, due to small class (around 12 kids per class). But then I'm sure St. Pat's also does a good job with these types of kids. I remember that I really liked the after school program at St. Pat's where you can take private music lessons and other things.

At the end of the day, if you were to choose between the two, I think you should go with your guts, and also you should talk to current parents. We kind of felt the "fit" after talking to parents and touring the school one last time before making the decision.

Wish you best of luck. I'm sure you will find the best place for your child!

[Anonymous]

Our DS is at NPS and we continue to feel as though the school is an excellent fit for him and our family. The teachers and staff are very warm and sincerely care about the students and their progress (both academically and with the soft skills). When they say they care about the "whole child", they sincerely mean it. The school has surpassed our expectations.

[Anonymous]

NPS family here.

What I like...
Great community
Kind and considerate people
Small
Diverse in various ways
Kids are happy
All types of people there but there’s a common bond

Both schools are great. Can you see your child there? Can you see you there? Go with your gut. Best of luck to you!

[Anonymous]

NPS is a cheerful, laid back school with a pretty creative approach to learning. St. P has a great rep too. Agree with above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Who are the "infamous Dexter St." parents.

More accurately, that street, Wesley Heights and Berkeley. They intentionally tend to try to stay segregated from the other parents -especially duel incomers. They literally talk about it in the open with each other. Even parents from other schools, know their reputation. I never seen so many terrible people congregate via real estate.

It's not the country club parents that you have to watch out for, it's those that live around each other. They are the ones that will have a birthday party at 3:00pm on a weekday. They know parents that work can't attend, so it's their way to segregate themselves from the workers. I would never judge someone for what they have or don't have. What does matter, however, is your character and that place is a black hole.

Op I would go with NPS for sure. Better community.

[Anonymous]

How did each school do with outplacement this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did each school do with outplacement this year?

I don’t know the actual figure but I heard from a current parent that a lot of the kids are headed to NCS/St Albans. This will be out at the end of the school year though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did each school do with outplacement this year?

I don’t know the actual figure but I heard from a current parent that a lot of the kids are headed to NCS/St Albans. This will be out at the end of the school year though

This is for NPS

[Anonymous]

This thread skews toward NPS. Unfortunately, the negative comments are mainly about St. Pat’s. Most of the favorable comments are about NPS. The posts from NPS families all say something positive about St. Pat’s— and I think they’re being honest— most NPS parents looked at SP.

There’s a theme here. So it may boil down to parent culture. And yes, sometimes that is a factor at a school. The parent population can change the tone of a grade or an entire school. Go or you feel comfortable.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure your child will flourish at either school, so I’d go with your gut rather than following DCUrban mom advice. That said, here are my two cents:

We loved St Pats for our three kids and found it to be a welcoming and loving community. Sure, there are plenty of wealthy families, but my kids didn’t seem to know or care who had money. From my perspective, it’s more important that the kids have right fit than that parents find their new BFFs; that said, there are plenty of activities so parents can get as much social interaction as they want. (I loved going to school events and volunteering, my husband went to a lot less!!)

They do a very thorough and thoughtful job on outplacement, making sure all children have a good fit school when they graduate, and kids go everywhere you would expect.
https://www.stpatsdc.org/admission/after-st-patricks

[Anonymous]

I’ve also had three kids attend St Pats, and I’m incredibly grateful for the community experience and my own parent experience, and my kids educations. It’s not perfect - no school is - but I will never find another community like St Patricks and I think most people feel that way. I’ve had friends that moved to other places, friends whose kids graduated, (my oldest is now at a different school) - all whom continue to say that St Pats was their favorite school community. I loved that the parent community is close and active there .... exactly what you want when your kids are young. I have a close friend whose kids are at NPS and they’ve loved it and it is a sweet school for sure, but she’s often said she wishes the community was more like St Pats. I do think there is also a slight difference in academics (with SP being a bit stronger). There are a lot of negative posters on here and I’ve gotten the sense from people who don’t go to St Pats that there is some envy there generally. Also - just FYI, I’ve literally never had a midweek birthday party and I’ve had three kids there for 9 years!
Anyway, good luck - you can’t go wrong !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve also had three kids attend St Pats, and I’m incredibly grateful for the community experience and my own parent experience, and my kids educations. It’s not perfect - no school is - but I will never find another community like St Patricks and I think most people feel that way. I’ve had friends that moved to other places, friends whose kids graduated, (my oldest is now at a different school) - all whom continue to say that St Pats was their favorite school community. I loved that the parent community is close and active there .... exactly what you want when your kids are young. I have a close friend whose kids are at NPS and they’ve loved it and it is a sweet school for sure, but she’s often said she wishes the community was more like St Pats. I do think there is also a slight difference in academics (with SP being a bit stronger). There are a lot of negative posters on here and I’ve gotten the sense from people who don’t go to St Pats that there is some envy there generally. Also - just FYI, I’ve literally never had a midweek birthday party and I’ve had three kids there for 9 years!
Anyway, good luck - you can’t go wrong !

Talk about a backhanded slam.

Somehow, I find this comment (bolded) almost impossible to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve also had three kids attend St Pats, and I’m incredibly grateful for the community experience and my own parent experience, and my kids educations. It’s not perfect - no school is - but I will never find another community like St Patricks and I think most people feel that way. I’ve had friends that moved to other places, friends whose kids graduated, (my oldest is now at a different school) - all whom continue to say that St Pats was their favorite school community. I loved that the parent community is close and active there .... exactly what you want when your kids are young. I have a close friend whose kids are at NPS and they’ve loved it and it is a sweet school for sure, but she’s often said she wishes the community was more like St Pats. I do think there is also a slight difference in academics (with SP being a bit stronger). There are a lot of negative posters on here and I’ve gotten the sense from people who don’t go to St Pats that there is some envy there generally. Also - just FYI, I’ve literally never had a midweek birthday party and I’ve had three kids there for 9 years!
Anyway, good luck - you can’t go wrong !

Talk about a backhanded slam.

Somehow, I find this comment (bolded) almost impossible to believe.

It's a head scratcher for sure

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve also had three kids attend St Pats, and I’m incredibly grateful for the community experience and my own parent experience, and my kids educations. It’s not perfect - no school is - but I will never find another community like St Patricks and I think most people feel that way. I’ve had friends that moved to other places, friends whose kids graduated, (my oldest is now at a different school) - all whom continue to say that St Pats was their favorite school community. I loved that the parent community is close and active there .... exactly what you want when your kids are young. I have a close friend whose kids are at NPS and they’ve loved it and it is a sweet school for sure, but she’s often said she wishes the community was more like St Pats. I do think there is also a slight difference in academics (with SP being a bit stronger). There are a lot of negative posters on here and I’ve gotten the sense from people who don’t go to St Pats that there is some envy there generally. Also - just FYI, I’ve literally never had a midweek birthday party and I’ve had three kids there for 9 years!
Anyway, good luck - you can’t go wrong !

Talk about a backhanded slam.

Somehow, I find this comment (bolded) almost impossible to believe.

It's a head scratcher for sure

It speaks volumes that a St Pat’s parent is bashing NPS while the NPS parents are gracious and complimentary of St Pat’s.