Reply to St Mary’s vs Blessed Sacrament (Alexandria)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are new to the area and are catholic and would like to send our kids to a catholic school. We have heard good things about st Mary’s and blessed sacrament. Trying to decide which parish to join-and ultimately send our daughter there when she is of age (will be starting K in 2027). Looking for a well rounded education, good teachers, nice community, and a variety of activities. Can anybody speak to this that has kids in either school? I know there will always be pros and cons but I’d really like to hear of any firsthand experience with either school- good or bad. Thank you![/quote]

I think both are strong schools and it can be difficult to gain admission. You will find people who think both can be a bit snobby, but YMMV. If you are looking at these two schools I'd encourage you to also check out St. Rita's or St. Louis, both also good options. St. Louis, in particular, has a pretty down to earth student body. Lots of military.[/quote]

You should definitely consider all four of these schools. Ask for private tours of each school in the fall before the applications open, and that'll give you somewhat of a feel for the school. Also attend Mass at all four parishes to get a sense of what the community is like.

Some things you might want to consider are:
(1) [b]Amount of technology use in the classroom. [/b]Some schools lean more heavily on tablets, some have banished EdTech entirely from the school and have discouraged parents from buying their kids devices. I'm 100% on board with the latter approach, but you have to figure out what works for you.
(2) [b]Size of the school.[/b] Some of these schools have multiple classes per grade, some have only one class per grade. One advantage of the small school is that it can be a very tight-knit community and you can see a lot of friendships develop across ages. But of course if there were to be a child that your child really isn't compatible with for some reason, they'd never be in different classrooms (for the record, that has not been an issue at all for my daughter). 
(3) [b]Quality of the extracurricular offerings. [/b]One place this shows up is in sports offerings, if that's important to your family. A smaller school may not be able to support as many different sports. But also look at the music program (what kind of training and experience does the teacher have?). And ask what the other extracurricular options are--a lot of this information may not be available on the website, and some of the schools offer some pretty unique options, so you'll want to ask the school.
(4) [b]Academic expectations.[/b] One way to get a sense of this is to look at any reading lists the schools have put out--what are children expected to be able to read, and by what age? Also consider the advanced math offerings--a smaller school may not offer geometry in the 8th grade and you'll need to figure out a workaround if that's important to your child. 
(5) [b]The level of emphasis on religious instruction.[/b] To what degree is Catholic teaching woven into the overall curriculum? How often do the students attend Mass? What about Adoration? I like heavier emphasis on religious instruction, but you need to select a school that you're most comfortable with. [/quote]

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