An open house is coming on the 24th of this month; 9 am. There is an open house just about every month. Call 301-262-0158 for info. They'd be happy to answer any and all concerns. No, they don't ask if you are married; no, they don't require that you are a church member to attend. Yes, there are small classes, and yes, the teachers do care about your child and whether they succeed in school.

GC is a good option for those who live in Bowie and don't want to send their kids to PS.

Agree with the previous posters who said this school is very fundamentalist. Heavy emphasis on scripture and religion. Also recommend Holy Trinity -- more focused on academics, much better reputation.

From what I've seen, the parochial schools are all over the map. Some seem to produce very strong students, some don't. I think there is a lot of variance by school with the parochial schools. Friends Community and Holy Trinity seem to produce uniformly strong students who are well prepared. I've had a couple who came from Patuxent Montessori (which I'm not really familiar with) that stood out as very well prepared for high school.

The public schools are also all over the place in terms of preparedness. Writing skills seem to be pretty poor across the board for the students coming from the publics that feed to my school. I think the way the curriculum is implemented can vary a lot at public schools based on the particular demographics and needs of the individual school. I think it is hard to make blanket statements about public or parochial for that reason. It really does vary school to school. Which is another reason being able to visit is very important. I really think PGCPS public schools lose a lot of potential students for this reason. When the reputation of the whole system is bad, you need to make active efforts to convince people that the neighborhood school is a good option. That starts by welcoming people in to see for themselves.

I find this interesting but reassuring that it is not just me without a respons. I feel that not responding back to a parent is very basic in setting the tone for your school.

I must agree about Montgomery county. My sister in law moved from California to poolesville. She sent an email and had a tour the next day. She enrolled her kids and that was it. She and the kids love the school but say academically it is very challenging.

If Shabach was ill prepared then I am assuming the local parochial schools must be ill prepared as well. It seemed that those kids were being pushed a lot harder academically than the parochial schools. Not to say that the parochial school curriculum was bad it is just that they incorporate other components into their day such as mass, religion. Do you suggest that the public school curriculum is more rigorous or are their private schools in pg county who produce kids with a strong academic foundation?

10:55 - I have had zero luck in getting any response from our neighborhood ES and MS about visiting (not Woodmore). I think that's just PGCPS schools in general. They have open houses, but unfortunately those open houses are way too late for those considering the private school route as well. Friends in MoCo had no problems setting up a time to visit their local publics. I know they are worried about how many families they lose to private schools, so it seems like making the neighborhood schools a little more accommodating about visits would be a good place for them to start fixing it.

As an aside, I teach and have had a couple of students from Shabach who were supposedly star students there. They were really ill-prepared academically for high school. Really fantastic kids - polite, kind, hardworking - but very behind on foundational skills. I think I would ask a lot of questions about the curriculum and ask to see student work on a visit there.

Woodmore elementary School. I plan to visit grace Christian school and woodmore ES on next Monday while I am off to see about the schools. I have tried to communicate to woodmore by email but have had no response from teacher nor principals. I hope this is just because they are busy and not the tone of the school.

What is your base public school

We were going to take a tour next week as one of the schools on our list. I must say it may be a close knit school because I have not met many who go to this school. They did not ask about being married on the application but I think they ask has your child been baptized. The application is very short. However, this is not to overkill when we went for the first Baptist church of glenarden school Shabach it ask if you can submit a form stating that you are a member of a church. This was part of admissions that you must be a member. I would visit the school and see for yourself. I must admit I see diversity by way of students but not by way of teaching or administrative staff.

The school is very VERY fundamentalist Baptist. I'm not sure how religious you'd like your child's education to be, however this school seems almost like overkill. There's a question on the application that asks if your child is saved. Also, I remember looking at this school for my child a few years ago and they may have relaxed this policy but I recall this school not wanting parents that aren't married.

unsure of the academic component. I would suggest holy trinity in pg county.

I have not heard of this school and it seems that there are not many recent reviews on great schools. Maybe you can ask for parent contact information so you can talk with them about the school or go to an open house to get a feel.

Has anyone heard of grace Christian school in bowie md? Any reviews?