Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. We are not necessarily opposed to non-Catholic HSs but that is just the trajectory we assumed she would take. Will take a look at NCS!

Anonymous wrote:In the DC area, many are biased into thinking the top Catholic Schools are all boys (St. Anselms, Gonzaga or Georgetown Prep) or all girls (Georgetown Visitation or Stone Ridge). Here is a website with ranking the Catholic schools in the area:

https://k12.nichebeta.com/rankings/private-high-schools/best-catholic/m/washington-dc-metro-area/

Rundown of Catholic High Schools in DC or Montgomery County (don't know as much about Va Schools or PG County) based on reputation and what people talk about.

Girls Schools:

Stone Ridge and Visitation are the top Catholic girls schools in the area (reputation wise). Families with money, very smart girls and well rounded kids. College placement is about equal with girls going to top Catholic colleges, some ivies plus others. Stone Ridge is an independent school but part of the Sacred Heart network (you may be familiar with) and Visi is part of the ADW with old Catholic families with legacies often getting in over more qualified new girls. You can't go wrong with either if your daughter has the grades, test scores or activities to get in. Visi slightly harder to get in because they take so many legacies. In all rankings, however, SR always comes out on top for some reason.

Holy Child - independent traditionally known for girls who have more learning differences with money. They've been making strides to get top students in past years by giving money. Typically many girls come from the Potomac area; known to be cliquey, but sounds like people with experience at this school love it. Known for beautiful facilities, warm and caring staff. Have not traditionally not had same college placement results as Visi or SR but I haven't looked lately.

Academy of the Holy Cross - ADW school with a lot of buzz right now, trying to recruit top students but also take weaker academically and give support. Traditional Catholic girls school, good sports teams, friendly, nice people. Not as strong academically with college placement not as impressive as SR or Visi but the girls there love it. Some people look down on it for not being as academic or having as much money as Visi or SR.

Oakcrest - in Virigina and Opus Dei....very conservative and small.

Brookewood - very small, conservative and lots of Opus Dei.

Coed Schools:

St. Johns College HS - used to be all boys military school. Now infused with tons of money thanks to Under Armour founder and alum, Kevin Plank. Big buzz right now but your child won't play sports there unless they are recruited or top athlete in their sport. Very impressive sports teams, but not known as being as academic as the all girl or all boy schools in the area. People I know love it there. Have a program called Benilde for kids who need more academic support.

Good Counsel HS - beautiful new facility now but far out if you are living in DC. Incredible new theater with theater program that is quite impressive. Also top sports school with many kids being recruited for their talents. Varied levels of academics - from strong to Riken program which helps kids with learning differences. Large school which some complain is almost like a public Catholic school.

Hope this helps!

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Anonymous wrote:The good news is that there is literally something for everybody in DC Catholic schools - single sex, coed, very bookish, very sporty. If you are living in Cleveland Park, you will be a short hop to just about everything. You might want to think about living a bit further into upper NW so that you have more schools in range. I don't know Chicago schools, but DC Catholic schools are quite competitive to get into - especially the single sex and independent schools.

Thanks for the info!

The thing about Catholic schools in Chicago is that there are so dang many of them! You are never more than 15 minutes away from a Catholic high school, and there is a parish with an attached K-8 school in pretty much every suburb and many city neighborhoods (we live in a suburb just outside the city). There are HSs where basically anyone with a pulse and $XX,000 to spare can attend, and then there are ones that are very very selective. The single-sex ones tend to fall into the "anyone with a pulse" (OK that sounds really awful of me) category, co-ed is more a mixed bag. So there is something for everyone, whether a very strong student or a not-so-strong student that simply wants to go to a Catholic high school for social reasons, sports, want a smaller environment, whatever.

We will definitely give St. John's a look. From my research it looks like a very well-rounded school, the type where a lot of different kinds of kids could succeed, where there is no one "type"...am I off base here?

For the sake of anonymity I won't say which school she'll be at next year, but I'll definitely talk to the other school families once we get there. Just thought I'd get a head start.

90% of the students play a sport at SJC. It is a VERY sporty school. It has every non-sport activity you would expect at a HS, but sports pulls it all together. For girls, the marquis sport is basketball. I think most of the other girls sports are close to being no-cut, especially for team sports.

OK- good to know. My daughter is sporty but she does cross country and soccer.

[b]You will be very close to NCS - National Cathedral School. Is she s very strong student? If so look into that school. [b]Also Maret though it's not Catholic.
Visitation is all girls and a serious school and pretty preppy and waspy (as is NCS).
Stone ridge is a little more diverse (not a lot but a little) has strong academic programs and a great spirit.
Holy child is very good for girls with learning issues or just regular students.
Holy cross and Brookewood would not be worth the crazy commute from DC.
SJC is very diverse and coed.

Anonymous wrote:Holy Cross would be worth a look if all-girls appeals to your DD. Good soccer and track programs, very easily metro accessible, draws from DC well into MD suburbs, solid IB program.

Anonymous wrote:You asked about Academy of the Holy Cross....They take all types of girls - from top of the class to bottom from my daughter's grade school class. Down to earth families and your typical all-girl Catholic school. Probably not the strongest academically but great girls who love their school. We ultimately chose Stone Ridge over AHC (Holy Cross) and Visi based on my daughter's shadow days. Going to a school and seeing what it is like is a great indicator of the best fit for your daughter and your family.

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Anonymous wrote:The good news is that there is literally something for everybody in DC Catholic schools - single sex, coed, very bookish, very sporty. If you are living in Cleveland Park, you will be a short hop to just about everything. You might want to think about living a bit further into upper NW so that you have more schools in range. I don't know Chicago schools, but DC Catholic schools are quite competitive to get into - especially the single sex and independent schools.

Thanks for the info!

The thing about Catholic schools in Chicago is that there are so dang many of them! You are never more than 15 minutes away from a Catholic high school, and there is a parish with an attached K-8 school in pretty much every suburb and many city neighborhoods (we live in a suburb just outside the city). There are HSs where basically anyone with a pulse and $XX,000 to spare can attend, and then there are ones that are very very selective. The single-sex ones tend to fall into the "anyone with a pulse" (OK that sounds really awful of me) category, co-ed is more a mixed bag. So there is something for everyone, whether a very strong student or a not-so-strong student that simply wants to go to a Catholic high school for social reasons, sports, want a smaller environment, whatever.

We will definitely give St. John's a look. From my research it looks like a very well-rounded school, the type where a lot of different kinds of kids could succeed, where there is no one "type"...am I off base here?

For the sake of anonymity I won't say which school she'll be at next year, but I'll definitely talk to the other school families once we get there. Just thought I'd get a head start.

90% of the students play a sport at SJC. It is a VERY sporty school. It has every non-sport activity you would expect at a HS, but sports pulls it all together. For girls, the marquis sport is basketball. I think most of the other girls sports are close to being no-cut, especially for team sports.

OK- good to know. My daughter is sporty but she does cross country and soccer.

You will be very close to NCS - National Cathedral School. Is she s very strong student? If so look into that school. Also Maret though it's not Catholic.
Visitation is all girls and a serious school and pretty preppy and waspy (as is NCS).
Stone ridge is a little more diverse (not a lot but a little) has strong academic programs and a great spirit.
Holy child is very good for girls with learning issues or just regular students.
Holy cross and Brookewood would not be worth the crazy commute from DC.
SJC is very diverse and coed.

NCS is also not Catholic. It is Episcopalian.

I agree that NCS is waspy, but Visi is Catholic. You can't be waspy (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) and Catholic.

Holy Cross is a great school. It's commute is no more crazy that SR. It's one more metro stop, but much more conveniently located relative to the stop than SR.