Reply to Any update on St. Bart's?

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "Any update on St. Bart's?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Like at every school, many of the parents who complain the most are the least involved. I have been working behind the scenes since we were first made aware of the situation. I will tell you that the current administration has been working tirelessly. The school has raised an incredible amount of money in 12 weeks. The school had a huge admission drain under the previous principal and has slowly but surely been re-building. Many of the parents who spend much time complaining are in for a rude awakening if they are forced to go to another school. The attention our children receive is unlike what I experienced  in MCPS and another area parochial school. The staff and several committees have worked so hard since we were made aware of the dire situation and I pray for my kids that the school stays open.  IMO it is completely unfair to put the blame on the current principal or pastor. There was [b]one parent in particular who was outraged and threatened to pull her child at the beginning of the year because the class size of 15 was completely unacceptable to her as she was promised small class sizes.. [/b] As several others have pointed out on this thread, st. Bart’s has both the competition of many other great public and private schools in the immediate area. [b]Less younger parents are focused on religion [/b]and current issues within the Catholic Church also don’t help. [/quote]

As a fellow Catholic, I recognize that St. Bart's seems to have been providing a unique environment.  What a blessing!  I really don't understand the parent who complained about a class size of 15 being too big.  Was she paying $40,000/year?  Does she understand budgets?  I also find it odd if St. Bart's really offers each special 2x/week.  It sounds great, but again, is this financially feasible?  If it were, wouldn't every parochial school do this?  My guess is that because the school is so small, having specials 2x/week is the only way to keep specials teachers busy full-time.

St. Barts sounds like an incredible place.  People keep mentioning that the administration needs to do more outreach.  They certainly can, but that's not the historical pattern for parochial schools.  Parochial schools have existed to meet the needs of the parish families.  It sounds like most of the parish families simply aren't interested.  They are paying a lot to live in their houses and like the free public schools, or they can afford to go for the fancier Catholic privates that are close by.  Some families can pay for these outright; others have funding through World Bank/IMF.  The school CAN do outreach to keep the school open for the few parish families who are there, but this simply isn't the historical model for parochial schools.

I would be curious about the enrollment patterns for other thriving parochial schools.  St. Pius in Bowie, the largest parochial school in ADW, benefits from the fact that PG County schools have such a bad reputation.  So, there are always non-Catholic neighbors who want a different choice.  Also, the school pulls from 4 different active local parishes.  This is a sustainable model.  The regional nature is not token; pastors from all 4 parishes are actively involved with the school.

I've heard that Holy Cross in Kensington pulls in a lot of commuters.  I haven't heard of any specific "outreach," but perhaps the location simply lends itself to this?  Can anyone verify?

St. Elizabeth's has long had a strong reputation.  Perhaps its location near 270 also attracts commuters?

St. Raphael's has had an amazing start. It has a beloved, innovative principal who built on the reputation of its long-established preschool.

St. Jerome's rebuilt itself with a strong brand.  Its classical emphasis and Montessori preschool have attracted dozens of families to move to Hyattsville.  The school has a waitlist for many grades.

Holy Redeemer in Kensington has students whose families have attended for generations.  Many, many students are walkers from the neighborhood.  The preschool has expanded to be the largest in the ADW and is fantastic.  I enrolled my DC because of the presence of a PK-3 program and have kept DC in ever since.

Not all parochial schools are going to survive, unfortunately.  They don't have the nearly free labor of religious sisters anymore and, as someone mentioned, younger families don't all want to make the financial sacrifice of sending their children to religious schools.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics