Can anyone share their experiences in detail about St. Pius in Bowie, St. Mary of the Assumption in Upper Marlboro, and/or Holy Trinity in Glenn Dale? My husband and I are trying to make a decision we’ve narrowed it down to these three schools. I’ve read a lot of things about these schools already and the reviews are mixed. We toured Holy Trinity (pre-COVID) and liked what we saw however Glenn Dale is out of the way for us and St. Pius and/or St. Mary’s will be a much better commute for us. While we are both working from home now due to COVID, however this won’t be our situation forever. I will drive into DC and my husband will drive into Vienna daily for work. We are still considering Holy Trinity because the other two are catholic schools and we aren’t catholic so to ensure we are keeping our options open, Holy Trinity remains on our list even though it’s out of the way.

Here is some additional background:
We live in Upper Marlboro right off 301.
Our son will be four by the start of the 2021-22 school year and we are looking into the pre-k4 program.
We are not catholic and our local elementary school is absolutely out of the question.

One of our concerns is that we are not catholic, I’d like to know how non-catholic families are treated at St. Pius and St. Mary’s? We are looking for a school that is welcoming and offers a solid education for our son. I heard St. Ambrose is an awesome school however we had to rule them out because they don’t offer before and aftercare which we will need.

We are asking for why you love or hate these schools. We know that we will have to apply starting at the end of January especially if we want to try and get into one of the catholic schools. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, thank you so much in advance!

For pre-school, St. Matthew's is another option - it goes through Kindergarten.

Saint Ambrose in Cheverly is right off of 50 and a great pre-K-8 school

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone looked into Shabach?

A joke

Yea I was NOT impressed with them. And that was at the Preschool level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highland Park Christian Academy

I second that. My daughter goes there and I have nothing but GREAT things to say about HPCA!

Not op but can you tell me more about what you like

Sure! My child is in the preschool program so I can only speak about that aspect. But from what I hear from the upper school parents, they love it and the kids tend to stay past preschool. I could be here all night raving about this place, so I will give my three biggest reasons why I am happy with them (and really why I am still in this area because I haven't found a school environment similar)

1.) Small class sizes-they really strive quality over quantity so the classes are small. You also get to meet/bond with other parents in the classroom via field trips or other school events.
2.) Culture-It feels like one big family, from the office staff to the Principal to the Chef-everybody knows my child by name. The Principal makes it her mission to call each child by their name and to get to know their families. There is also a strong PTA and heavy parent involvement with fundraisers and events.
3.) Enrichment-I have not found a Preschool in this area that offers what they do for 2-5 year olds. They also offer Spanish, Music, P.E. and STEAM-all taught by different teacher in that subject area- throughout the instructional day and the opportunity to participate in enrichment clubs in the afternoon (Soccer, Cooking Club, Dance, and Sign Language-there are more clubs for K-8). They also plan a lot of field trips for exposure, and some just for fun. The teachers also do a great job of balancing out the curriculum (Abeka) and providing developmentally appropriate instruction.

Now with this being said, this was Pre-Covid, but even throughout this, they have done an amazing job with "distance learning" and staying connected to their families.

Early childhood is pretty good in PG. I’m going to try they 2nd and go private for 3rd

Anonymous wrote:Anyone looked into Shabach?

A joke

Anyone looked into Shabach?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highland Park Christian Academy

I second that. My daughter goes there and I have nothing but GREAT things to say about HPCA!

Not op but can you tell me more about what you like

Anonymous wrote:Highland Park Christian Academy

I second that. My daughter goes there and I have nothing but GREAT things to say about HPCA!

Anonymous wrote:Highland Park Christian Academy

Actually I hear very good things about HPCA. No curb appeal and not a popular private in this board but I hear very good things about the school.

Pius, School of the Incarnation, and Holy Trinity might be good options to consider. You don’t want to look at anything in Annapolis because the commute would be too much.

Highland Park Christian Academy

Anonymous wrote:Grace Christian School is great if you are okay with religious education.

Nothing but a public school.

Grace Christian School is great if you are okay with religious education.