we went last night! we have a son who it turns out will be just under 2.5 (the minimum age) so it looks like he won't be able to attend next semester but I was incredibly impressed with the intentionality of the program and listening to the actual primary class teachers talk about how things worked with the classrooms. i have been reading more about montessori in particular and i am definitely sold on it as a program for young children. there was a professor there from CUA who talked about the continuity between montessori and the classical education program they have going on there at st. jerome's for the older kids, which i hadn't even thought about because, well my son is not even 2! I really liked being able to tour the classrooms and see the materials the kids work with. I have friends that go there and have heard nothing but rave reviews. this doesn't apply to us since our son is ineligible, but they are closing the first round of applications the first week in march, so that's just around the corner. they also have the opportunity to go and observe the classrooms if you have any more questions about how montessori practically works. it seems there will also be hopefully more enrichment programs this upcoming year to help parents bring montessori home, which is something i am particularly interested in! it really seems like the common sense approach to beginning learning.

if you had any other specific questions, i would be happy to answer!

Anyone going to the SJ Montessori open house tonight? I can't make it but would be curious to hear people's thoughts.

16:13 I have no idea why you r so hostile. Im not interested in going back and forth with you. I will say this, im not advocating Hyattsville elementary specifically because I dont live in that jurisdiction. If you read my comments all the way thru I was referring to public schools in general. I don't know why you would feel so irate about the refund, I gain nothing by lying about asking for a refund. Lastly, to call me a troll for simply saying I dont understand the hype around St. Jerome is crazy. I didnt say it was a bad school, I said it wasn't all that people made it out to be.

Interesting to hear the complaints/comments about social pressure to attend Hyattsville Elementary especially considering that the usual social pressure in PGC is to NOT attend the local public school.

Actually I feel like half the comments on here are trolls posting back and forth about the wonders of both St. Jerome's and Hyattsville Elementary. Agree with 23:17, there is a lot of social pressure.

^ troll. I had a hard time believing the story about being denied a tuition refund, so I asked the principal directly about it. She told me only one family this school year asked for a refund, due to their 3-year-old's separation anxiety. They were offered a pro-rated refund but ended up staying when the child's situation resolved.

Notice the PP doesn't mention any specifics St. Jerome's, only Hyattsville Elementary. I agree with the other PP that this is a neighborhood parent who feels threatened because SJA is drawing some of the academically promising kids away from her kids' public school.

To late to go the moving route as there are only a few months left in the year. I had a discussion with another parent who feels the same way I do about St. Jerome. This has been a learning experience and I'm starting to share the sentiments of many, we can't change the public schools if we don't enroll our children in them. So, I will not be overlooking public school next year. As stated St. jerome is not an awful school, just dont believe the hype, its not exceptional it just has good PR and people buy into it.

This is nothing new in Hyattsville. My kids are older now, but when they were young we experienced social pressure from some other professional couples in the neighborhood to enroll them in Hyattsville Elementary rather than the private schools that were trendy at the time -- CFMS (then located down the road in Mt. Rainier), FCS (then in College Park) or St. Mark's (now closed but then considered the premier parochial school in the county). The feeling was that if enough educated parents enrolled in the local public school, then it bring the school up with them -- or at least their kids would have a cohort to travel through public school with.

Now there are more young professionals in the neighborhood than before, and the social pressure is even greater to enroll in Hyattsville Elementary. From what I've heard, the school is improving. However, St. Jerome's star has risen even faster and farther, and from what I can tell an increasing number of non-Catholic professionals have been enrolling their kids. Five years ago, I don't think there was a single child within two blocks of our house at St. Jerome's. Now I can count at least nine, and I'd guess about half of them aren't parishioners at the church.

One other thing. I have a personal acquaintance who moved away a year ago and who told me she was given a pro-rated refund of tuition from St. Jerome's. Just sayin' ...

I didnt visit the public school until later in the year and we had already paid the full tuition an St. Jeromes does not give refunds (i asked). I didn 't think about visiting the public school because l was hearing such negative things about pg county schools. People seem to go to such extreme measures to keep there children out. As time has gone on I for the life of me cannot see why people think this school is so great. It's not an awful school, but it is definately not what its hyped up to be. The only thing I agree with is the price, it is alot cheaper than other private schools.

PP, why is your child still in the private school if everything was better in the public school? Public school is cheaper than any private school.

My son attends this school and I do not see what all the excitement is. I sent my child here because of the fear I have over pg county public schools and this school got great reviews. Well, I don't get it. The public school across the street which gets awful reviews had a more attentive staff, better classrooms and happier/engaged children. I think that this school gets alot of attention because its cheaper than most private schools and they read all these posts praising the school. Its just an old school with working parents in the area afraid to send their kids to public school.

I visited in December and my impressions were these: warm, inviting atmosphere, cheerful staff, quiet contemplation on the faces of the children in the hall; well behaved, engaged children in the classrooms; obviously a deeply thoughtful committed Catholic environment. The snippets of classroom teaching showed a fully integrated program that is Classical and modern and rich. I can't wait to send my son.

I toured and couldn't get past the facilities (though understandable at the price of tuition and they said renovations were coming)
The kids seemed like robots in class....I didn't see any happy looking kids
I visited a class and saw two AA boys raising their hand for the 15 min we were in the room and they were never called on...about 8 other kids were called on. They eventually gave up.
Price for a large family is awesome though and I like the idea behind the curriculum.

Sorry, In re-reading I see that my post is too negative. I have heard many positive things about the school too, and know that the classical curriculum is quite popular with many parents. There are just a few things that I am having a hard time getting past. I would love to be convinced that the school is fantastic. Please do share your honest impressions and apologies for coming across too negatively above.

If you have a child enrolled in the grade school would you mind sharing your impressions? The play area looks like a prison yard and I have heard that the administration is disorganized and not really equipped to deal with more educated families. What is your experience?