This may not apply here. My DC is just finishing his freshman year in one of the catholic schools in NOVA. Unlike the pressure cooker school we're zoned for, his school has been a welcome change both academically and socially. Comparatively he feels the teachers are invested in him and care about his success. He keeps in contact with kids at his zoned for HS, he is glad he is not dealing with the level of social drama at his home school and the fight the sink and swim academic environment there. His very bright good friend is looking to make the move over to the catholic school too for the personal touch his parents feel his not getting at the public school.

Anonymous wrote:Academics are equal to typical FCPS high schools (according to friend who had one grad from non-prestigious FCPS HS and one who was sent to BI to keep out of trouble.)

Friend also said DC never really felt like he fit in (although DC was popular) b/c the others had gone to Catholic grade schools and just had a longer history with Catholic friends/traditions.

Ultimately, you are paying for your kid to be around a certain group of peers and Catholic teachings. That may be a plus, or it may not.

I went there and my kid goes their - this is 1/2 true.

Honors/AP classes are on par with top public schools. College prep classes are better than gen ed classes at a top public high school. The classes are rigorous but not ridiculous (for comparison, I went to UVA after BI and found UVA to be fairly easy). They make you work for an A - no grade inflation and chances for a re-do like most area public schools.

The coming from a Catholic school things matter for about 2 weeks. All those cliques break up and reform. It was true 20 years ago when I went there and it is true now. Very few kids remain good friends with more than 1-2 kids from their feeder school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have some of the oldest, worst facilities. They need a renovation big time.

x


What a curious comment. Are you referring to the infrastructure of the buildings? Or are you referring to athletic facilities? Would you not send your child to BI for this reason?

Facilities infrastructure. Athletic ones aren't that great, either, but the overall infrastructure looks like it was built in the 70s.

Didn't they renovate most of the building fairly recently?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have some of the oldest, worst facilities. They need a renovation big time.

x


What a curious comment. Are you referring to the infrastructure of the buildings? Or are you referring to athletic facilities? Would you not send your child to BI for this reason?

Facilities infrastructure. Athletic ones aren't that great, either, but the overall infrastructure looks like it was built in the 70s.

Academics are equal to typical FCPS high schools (according to friend who had one grad from non-prestigious FCPS HS and one who was sent to BI to keep out of trouble.)

Friend also said DC never really felt like he fit in (although DC was popular) b/c the others had gone to Catholic grade schools and just had a longer history with Catholic friends/traditions.

Ultimately, you are paying for your kid to be around a certain group of peers and Catholic teachings. That may be a plus, or it may not.

Anonymous wrote:They have some of the oldest, worst facilities. They need a renovation big time.

x


What a curious comment. Are you referring to the infrastructure of the buildings? Or are you referring to athletic facilities? Would you not send your child to BI for this reason?

Anonymous wrote:Where do these kids go to college?

Like most Catholic schools it is all over the map. This is from 2014.

http://www.bishopireton.org/document.doc?id=842

They have some of the oldest, worst facilities. They need a renovation big time.

Where do these kids go to college?

Anonymous wrote:Other than St. Mary's, what are the feeder schools?

St. Louis is also a major feeder school.

The girls athletic program is fine and the girls lax team is very strong right now. But the boys program is terrible.

Other than St. Mary's, what are the feeder schools?

BI is a good co-ed Catholic school with kids coming primarily from Alexandria and South Arlington parish schools. The vast majority of kids from our own parish school - St. Mary's in Old Town Alexandria - enroll at Bishop Ireton. Like the PP, the children of many of our friends and relatives have attended BI and all have been very happy with the school.

My kids did not attend, but in retrospect I should have sent at least 1. All my friends who have kids there have had very positive experiences, strong academics, great music and theatre and strong, strong athletics but it does not appear that the school is ruled by the sports program. I think it is worth a serious look and I am sure there are many parents at the school who would be happy to talk to you.

This Catholic high school seems to be a popular option for Alexandria families. Is this just simply due to ease of location or is it a good high school? Do a majority of the students live in Alexandria? All I know about the school is that it is one of the smaller Catholic high schools, is cost effective and has a stellar girls lacrosse team. I would appreciate any additional, candid, information.