We are midway through our first year at Saint Columba and we are very pleased. We did not know much about the school before enrolling, but after looking at private schools in Alexandria and on Capitol Hill, Saint Columba still seemed like a terrific and, frankly, better option, with a bonus that it is close to home. We do not belong to the parish, nor are we Catholic. We wanted a good education and a good community for our child and so far the school is meeting those needs. The school this year made a strong commitment to teaching to individual strengths and has significant expectations for volunteer service. A well-run aftercare is a much appreciated bonus. There are a number of teachers and families with decades of connections to the school--black, white, Filipino, others and mixed races. If you are looking for a quality education and school experience that is traditional, not trendy, check out Saint Columba.

My daughter has been attending St. Columba since kindergarten and she's currently in 2nd grade. We live in Fort Washington so it is also our parish. She loves this school so much that when we were looking at real estate, her first question is "Are we still close to St. Columba?" because apparently we're not allowed to move far from St. Columba. Currently St. Columba is aiming to reach blue ribbon standards according to our principal. The teachers have been there for many years (a lot of teachers also attended and graduated from the school). It's a very close knit school with most parents expecting their kids to be overachievers. I am able to build a relationship with her teachers easily and communication is never a problem (email, phone, and even text with her former teacher). It's definitely far from perfect (technology wise, they can use some push in adapting) but they do offer a very solid education. Parental participation is a must (you can't even try to hide as a parent because you will be held accountable) as a partner in your child's education. Bottomline, we love it. It's not for everybody, but thank God it's for us because there's no way we would put her in a public school in the area.

Experience with St. Columba as my nieces and nephews are all graduates. St. Columba is a very warm traditional Catholic "classical" education. I say that as a product of parochial school myself. I also describe it that way to differentiate from progressive learning models. I think St. Columba remains a good alternative to public schools and know that they have a strong reading program. The Archdiocese of Washington has a published curriculum/objectives that each of the schools in the archdiocese follow. You should look there as your starting point and visit a few of the schools to determine the specific personality. Although we are parishioners at St. Pius X in Bowie and have heard wonderful things about the school we are considering other Catholic schools too for that right fit for our DCs. St. Ambrose is high on our list.

Anonymous wrote:I would like some info on St. Columba in Oxon Hill and St. Mary's in Clinton...if anyone knows anything. The parents at my preschool seem to rave about St. Mary's. I never hear anything about St. Columba ....I do know it has a large Filipino population maybe nearly half the student body.

I am also curious about St. Columba

Thanks we can't wait to send our dd.

St. Pius is a nice school for K-8--my DH went there back in the early 1970s.

My daughter graduated from Elizabeth Seton High School a couple of years ago & we were very happy with the education she received.

We are sending out DD to St. Pius in Bowie for K. We have heard nothing but good reviews about the school!

I would like some info on St. Columba in Oxon Hill and St. Mary's in Clinton...if anyone knows anything. The parents at my preschool seem to rave about St. Mary's. I never hear anything about St. Columba ....I do know it has a large Filipino population maybe nearly half the student body.

St Jerome's new format is getting a lot of positive attention. Holy Redeemer gets some shout-outs, and I have many neighbors happy at St Mary's in Laurel.

I think it depends on which public school. We sent our DC to catholic school for pre-K but will likely send them to our zoned school for K in the fall. I do like catholic schools for lower grades, but as they approach middle school grades the class sizes can be fairly large (30+ kids). We actually will have smaller class sizes in our zoned school. In addition, because of the large class size and the limited number of classes per grade, I am a little concerned about how they differentiate the education for kids that are doing really well in certain areas.

We are moving to upper marlboro in the largo area. My daugther will be in kindergarten in a year and I'm just curious as too if the Catholic schools are good options in place of the public schools in PG.

We are very happy with St. Ambrose in Cheverly. It is Pre-k-8th grade. Although the school is in Cheverly many families commute from places like Bowie/Michellville. Do you have specific questions?

If you want K-8 info maybe let us know what part of the county you're in since there are a lot of parish schools.

Are you looking for information on K-8 or high schools?

Does anyone have any experience with any of the Catholic Schools in PG County. Which ones are quality?