Anonymous wrote:The test scores may be impressive, but remember that in this area, people don't always start in pre-k or K and stay until 8th grade. Also, schools that are open to welcoming a whole family, regardless of who has an IQ of 130 or 90, meet the mission of the Diocese. Schools that have students who are all high achievers could be a result of strong teaching but it could also be a school that picks only strong students (or who ask students with learning disabilities to leave).

I think Blessed Sacrament has a great reputation and their parish is great (used to live near there) but a shadow day or talking with a current family could help you make a decision.

I think you're likely to see a mix of abilities in diocesan schools just like public schools. The key difference (other than religious instruction, which is a major priority for me) is that there's no tolerance for disruption and general misbehavior, and so a talented child has the opportunity to thrive without the distractions that you can get in a public school. In our school there's also a relatively widespread commitment to a largely tech-free childhood, which makes it a lot easier to keep those distracting devices out of our kids' hands with minimal complaint (they can't tell us they're missing out on the group chats with their friends since there aren't any such chats).