St Louis...here is what I know:

-2 classes per grade
-about 25 kids per grade (although some of the lower grades were closer to 27)
-teacher plus assistant up to grade 2?
-new preschool and the preschool director is amazing
-Principal has been there about six years. Young and open to changes.
-great music programs
-warm environment
-before and after care
-there are waiting lists the last couple of years

We have been very happy there.

Most Good Shepherd kids go to public school. THey also have a robust homeschool population. The CCD classes at GSCC are large and thriving; I don't think many parishioners go to SMS or St Louis.

Anonymous wrote:I think that Good Shepherd kids go to either St Mary's or St Louis. But it is not automatic. St Mary's has always been tight on numbers and I hear that St Louis is getting very tight on admission numbers with waiting lists the last few years.

When I leave pick up at St. Marys, many many cars make a left onto the parkway from Green St. There are many families that live in 22308 and 22309 (Good Shepherd) that go to St. Marys. We never considered St. Louis because of its location.

Any thoughts on St. Louis?

Does anyone have any experience with St. Rita's? I don't see the school discussed very much. It seems to fly under the radar.

I think that Good Shepherd kids go to either St Mary's or St Louis. But it is not automatic. St Mary's has always been tight on numbers and I hear that St Louis is getting very tight on admission numbers with waiting lists the last few years.

If St. Mary's and Blessed Sacrament are generally limited to parishoners, where do the kids at Good Shepherd go? St. Louis?

Our public school, Waynewood, I believe has larger class sizes with a full time teacher and a floater. St. Mary's has 2 full time teachers per K class. My child also just completed K at St. Marys and his class had 23 with 2 full time teachers. I also heard that there *might* be only 3 1st grade classes next year, but that it's not a sealed deal.

My child loved his first year of school! His teacher was over the top fantastic - we are very pleased with St. Marys.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Father Kleinman is why there are 4 kindergarten classes. He's always said that he feels all parishioner's children should be able to attend St. Marys. I believe he's caught a lot flack for this decision.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know anything about St Louis or Queen of the Apolostles that are also in Alexandria? I think one is in Fairfax County. We are just trying to expand our circle of options.

I checked out Queen of Apostles last year and the principal was very new - not only to their school but being a principal as well as having very few years in the classroom.

They attend church twice a week and I find that too disruptive. Going to church involves getting the kids there, sitting and waiting for the service to start, going through the service, getting the kids back to class, settling them down and transitioning back to school work. Too me, doing that twice a week was going to take a way from learning time.

Does anyone know anything about St Louis or Queen of the Apolostles that are also in Alexandria? I think one is in Fairfax County. We are just trying to expand our circle of options.

Anonymous wrote:How will St Mary's physically be able to hold 4 classes per grade? We looked at the school a couple of years ago and they said that the kindergarten class of 2010 had four classes due to a large number of siblings and they could not keep having classes that large due to the fact that the school is not physically large enough. Is the large sibling number the same reason for the four classes per grade last year and this year?

How do current families feel about these larger classes?

My child just finished K at St. Mary's. His grade had 4 classes this year. His class had 23 students, I believe. Rumor is that they are condensing to three 1st grade classes because of attrition and that the 1st grade classes will be around 27. I haven't heard anything official on that though. I have heard that they strongly considered condensing the previous bubble year for this school year (the current 2nd or 3rd grade, I can't remember), but decided to hold it to 4 classes. If they have lost anyone in that grade, I would assume they will condense to 3 classes for next year as well. I really don't have a problem with any of this. Would I rather have 23 kids in my kid's 1st grade class instead of 27? Sure, but with a full time aide, 27 is still in my comfort zone. So I think the short answer to PP is that it doesn't seem that they intend to have 4 classes per grade from now on. I also like that St. Mary's has 3 (typically) classes per grade instead of one or two; we saw that as a big plus for the school.

I'm sure others disagree, but I don't see small class sizes as something I'm entitled to in a Catholic school. There certainly weren't small class sizes in the Catholic schools where I grew up, and, when we toured Blessed Sacrament in Alexandria a couple years back, I believe they were at 30 per class (only 1 class per grade). If St. Mary's keeps things around 27, I'm fine with that. In my mind, if I want to be guaranteed a small class size K-8 for my child, I need to fork over $25k+ for an independent school instead of the $8k I'm paying at St. Mary's or any of the other area parish schools.

How will St Mary's physically be able to hold 4 classes per grade? We looked at the school a couple of years ago and they said that the kindergarten class of 2010 had four classes due to a large number of siblings and they could not keep having classes that large due to the fact that the school is not physically large enough. Is the large sibling number the same reason for the four classes per grade last year and this year?

How do current families feel about these larger classes?

St Mary has 4 kindy classes now, and will again in the fall. Approx 22-24 kids per class

Four kindergarten classes? Where? Is that at St. Marys? or one of the others? What about Blessed Sacrament or St. Ritas?