Anonymous wrote:St. Anthony's is just a daycare. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is not the case at all. It's a very impressively run preschool that happens to also be full-day, which is a huge bonus for parents who work full time. In fact, we know of several families who don't have two full-time-working parents because the curriculum, facility, etc., are so impressive. Based on feedback from friends in DC, it certainly rivals the most competitive "preschools" in DC that everyone is scrambling to get into. We have been very impressed with what our children are learning, and the fact that our 3-year-old can write his name and do some basic reading. We have not worked with him at home!

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to hijack this thread, but we have been looking at St. Anthony's (and yes, I realize the waitlist is very long, but wondering if we should get on it). Would a child from St. Anthony's feel out of place going on to a public afterwards? I got the sense that a lot of kids from there go on to privates and/or parochials, which we cannot afford. But St. Anthony's itself is not any more expensive than other daycares we are looking at, and we liked it. But we don't want our kid to feel bad that they don't have the same options other kids do afterwrds (or do kids not notice that stuff at that age?). I mean, WE will feel badly, but that's a whole other story....

Current St. Anthony's family here. There are many many children who go to public schools afterward, especially in the Alexandria City Public Schools. We also know families who are going to public schools in Arlington and McLean after graduation.

To the PP who said St. Anthony's is "a daycare, nothing more, nothing less" I would beg to differ. It's run like a school with a curriculum for each age group and NAEYC certification. Kids graduate reading and writing, and are often way ahead in Kindergarten!

That's a lot of kindergartners. Doesn't seem so intimate.

And there will be 4 kindy classes in the fall, too. The principal can't seem to say no, and thus there are nearly 800 students in an aging facility with zero green space. It is CRAZY.

Anonymous wrote:NP here with possible rising Kindergartener. Very helpful re: how doctrine is infused into all teachings. Are there any parents on this thread who have had kids at St. Anthony's Day School? It seems like St. Anthony's sends a lot of children to St. Marys. How do the two compare re: Catholic doctrine?

St. Anthonys is a Christian school, and though it was created by a ex-nun, children of different faiths attend - i.e, Jewish, Baptist...

From my DC's class, 10 were accepted into St. Mary's school. Our first year at St. Mary's has been positive, though it's not as personal as SADS. St. Mary's is a large school - Fall '12 had 4 kindergarten classes.

My kids goes to parochial school in MD and I love the term used by a PP "fake" Catholic. I am one too. My DH was a real Catholic when we met but I have turned him over to the dark side. Ironically, he thinks we are hypocritical sending the kids to school when we don't really believe in everything. However, I tell him deal with it as we still believe in everyday values they teach. I would say if you can't handle the religious aspect of a parochial don't send them as it will be awkward. Once they are old enough to receive communion, kids who don't might feel left out. In my experience too, the kids generally love the school so once you start it is really hard on the kids to pull them out. My DD tells me all of the time how she loves her school. Regarding 8th grade, I know my child would HATE it if she had to go to a public. We still might send our kids to public for high school but I’ll have to frame is carefully like with the money we are saving we can take a nice trip each year if you get a 4.0 or something like that.

St. Anthony's is just a daycare. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but we have been looking at St. Anthony's (and yes, I realize the waitlist is very long, but wondering if we should get on it). Would a child from St. Anthony's feel out of place going on to a public afterwards? I got the sense that a lot of kids from there go on to privates and/or parochials, which we cannot afford. But St. Anthony's itself is not any more expensive than other daycares we are looking at, and we liked it. But we don't want our kid to feel bad that they don't have the same options other kids do afterwrds (or do kids not notice that stuff at that age?). I mean, WE will feel badly, but that's a whole other story....

Anonymous wrote:NP here with possible rising Kindergartener. Very helpful re: how doctrine is infused into all teachings. Are there any parents on this thread who have had kids at St. Anthony's Day School? It seems like St. Anthony's sends a lot of children to St. Marys. How do the two compare re: Catholic doctrine?

10 children from my DC's class at St. Anthonys were accepted St. Marys - all were Catholic. St. Anthonys is a Christian school and does not incorporate a Catholic doctrine, although the school began with an ex-nun. Prayers and God are common are St. Anthonys.

Anonymous wrote:I am curious - Dale City is not that close to Old Town. Who ends up going there? I thought most of the kids at St. Mary's were children of parishoners. Are there parishoners thave live out of bounds?

A few St Mary's kids go to JPII, but not many. Same for TC. In DD's grad class of 65 or so, maybe 1 or 2 went to TC. Usually about 1/2 the class goes to BI. 10-15 go to Gonzaga. 5-6 to Visi. A handful go to West Po, usually more than TC, though. And the rest are scattered around onesies to O'Connell, Potomac, SSASAS, Oakcrest, the Heights and places like that.

There are a good number of St Mary's kids who live in 22308 and 22309. They are probably the ones going to JPII.

NP here with possible rising Kindergartener. Very helpful re: how doctrine is infused into all teachings. Are there any parents on this thread who have had kids at St. Anthony's Day School? It seems like St. Anthony's sends a lot of children to St. Marys. How do the two compare re: Catholic doctrine?

JPG is a great school which offers multiple bus stops throughout NoVa - including one that leaves from St. Marys. They make it very easy for St Marys, St Louis, St Thomas More, etc. families to attend. It is a new school with innovative programs (bioethics) and fantastic facilities.

I am curious - Dale City is not that close to Old Town. Who ends up going there? I thought most of the kids at St. Mary's were children of parishoners. Are there parishoners thave live out of bounds?

Re: the current St Marys principal....she is inflexible to the extreme. Which can be good and bad. Staff don't like her, there is significant faculty turnover each year. Many families feel that she goes into every meeting with her defenses up...she's always in adversarial mode, as opposed to "we're all in this together for the good of your child" mode.

The majority of 8th graders attend BI, O'Connell, Gonzaga, Visitation, OakCrest, Heights, and JPG (Dale City). A very small handful go to Stone Ridge, Holy Child, Potomac, Madeira, St. Anselms. Some go to TC, Edison, WestPo. But most go to Catholic high schools of some flavor.