I am a parishioner and recently looked at the school. I have friends that are happy with their kids there. For my kid, the class size and lack of "warmth" didn't sit well. IMHO, neighboring Holy Redeemer is better in terms of class size and warmth.

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are old. Facilities are sub par. School hasn't adapted to today's challenges. School prides itself on service to others. I'm not sure how well prepared their graduates are for HS. Sure most of their kids get accepted into Prep or Gonzaga but I suspect these are legacy students.

Not all are legacy students.

We found the principal and everyone there to be very welcoming and friendly. And true, some years the class sizes are large, but it varies every year. Public school classes in this area are just as large but they don't have the individual help available that your child can receive if needed. Their placement rate amongst private high schools is very high and there is a no bullying tolerance.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have children currently enrolled now? If so, are you all happy there?

Not enrolled now but when DD and DS were there DD asked to leave for a better school. Not a lot of education going on in her opinion. DD got a much better foundation and education at another school. DS did too (though he liked boys at old school it was time for an education). The emphasis is definitely on the middle-lower level kids in the class academically. Surprised at # of boys on Ritalin (big class sizes).
Also there were too many awful teachers - one distracted by family stuff all year, one who used tape recordings instead of teaching, a screaming lunatic, one teacher seemed to feed answers to kids on tests. Awful art classes. Who is running the place?

I hear they have some good new early teachers though. Band is good. Things like school plays are good. Christmas pageants are nice.

Parents at the school can be very enthusiastic about it but it's more for the parenting experience (volunteering at school or to coach sports) with each other than the education. We always thought it was strange that most parents were not more outraged by the low level education but they just weren't bothered by it.
Plenty of bullying that goes on too. School is just not able to get a handle on that time and time again (too big? Also, some parents seem to like it that way so no support for better).

A less expensive alternative to Woods Academy (which is stronger than DeC in many regards). If you want your kids to stay on the Catholic track for HS, this is a fine choice. If you want your kids to be accepted into the more academically rigorous HS options in our area (St Albans, NCS, Sidwell, Maret, etc), then DeC is not the best choice for you.

My children are also in the lower school. The kids love their school and their classmates, who are really nice kids. The curriculum is strong - Dechantal students regularly are admitted to good high schools and, eventually, good colleges. To me, that is the best way to judge if a school's academics are strong. In addition to academics the children spend at least a few minutes each day thinking about right and wrong and how you should treat others. It is a "whole child" approach to education.

Yes, there are a lot of spirit days and fun school activities. The "fun" side of deChantal is part of what makes my kids so happy to go to school each day. The deChantal school day is about 1 hour longer than MCPS' school day, so I think that they still have plenty of time to cover academics.

The curriculum is not, however, identical to MCPS'. If you want your child to learn the MCPS curriculum, you should probably send your child to a MCPS school.

Our children attend the lower grades. We love it/they love it. Nice sense of tradition. I believe a few of the more tenured teachers are starting to turn over. My kids are learning the same things as their public school friends. I feel like I have more of a connection to the school/teachers than my friends whose kids are going to public school. No complaints yet. I do agree there is a lot of volunteering, spirit days, etc. I'm okay with that - let them be kids and let them learn more than the typical curriculum.

Does anyone have children currently enrolled now? If so, are you all happy there?

I'm a DeChantal alum. Back in the day (80s) it was strong academically, much better than the other Catholic schools in the area. I get the impression that they're not keeping pace though and offering any more than they offered back then.

Anonymous wrote:The previous poster needs to actually read the person's entry before responding. She said her kids went thru Ashburton and NB (the local publics instead of DeChantal)as alternatives to DeChantal, and then applied and got accepted to the 6 independant schools mentioned. It's not that she had 6 kids that all went to 6 different schools, but she got acceptances from those 6. (must have had at least 1 boy and 1 girl) Her point is that she got her kids into good high schools without having to go to the nearby Catholic elementary, understand?

Actually now I'm not sure at all what the PP said. Does "I sent all my kids through public elementary school (ashburton & north bethesda middle school) and they all got accepted into NCS, Stone ridge, Sidwell, Landon, Gprep, and maret." mean that PP has several kids (probably at least 3, because otherwise it would be more usual to say "both my kids", not "all my kids"), and all 3+ of them got accepted into NCS, Stone Ridge, Sidwell, Landon, Georgetown Prep, and Maret? How do you get accepted into NCS and Stone Ridge AND Landon and Georgetown Prep?

Anonymous wrote:DeChantal does help kids with learning issues and considers this part of thier Catholic mission, but does nothing to help accelerated students, other that to suggest they go elsewhere, bragging that they have a waiting list.

In general, Catholic schools are not a good choice for kids at either end of the learning spectrum - both gifted and talented students and those with special needs. The resources are not there.

Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac, MD is one Catholic school that has an inclusion program. [/url]http://www.schoololom.org/pages/OLOM/Academics/Inclusion_Program[url]

Teachers are old. Facilities are sub par. School hasn't adapted to today's challenges. School prides itself on service to others. I'm not sure how well prepared their graduates are for HS. Sure most of their kids get accepted into Prep or Gonzaga but I suspect these are legacy students.

DeChantal does help kids with learning issues and considers this part of thier Catholic mission, but does nothing to help accelerated students, other that to suggest they go elsewhere, bragging that they have a waiting list.