Catholic High School (Arlington, Jefferson, Dumfries: homes, neighborhoods, middle school)

[4321]

I am curious about any thoughts on John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Dumfries. They just finished their first year so information is hard to find other than their web site. Anyone know anything????

[ChristineVA]

My son will be attending this Fall as a Freshman.

What I do know about it is that it adheres to and is supported by the Arlington Diocese--uses their curriculum, adheres to their standards. My other child attended another Arlington Diocese high school and I was very pleased with the education and atmosphere and I expect no less from JPG.

It is a bit different in that it is not run by a non-religious principal, but by an order of teaching nuns--the Dominican sisters based out of Tennessee. They also run Aquinas.

The only drawbacks I am anticipating is not getting the "full" high school experience due to the size of the school. I believe next year's Junior Class has about 75 students, next year's Sophmore Class is a bit bigger, and haven't heard the count on the Freshman class but I expect it is even bigger. Registration night seemed VERY busy.

[99percent]

Sorry to bring up an old thread.

I am curious about this new catholic high school.

What does everyone think about John Paul the Great Catholic High School? Havent been able to find any reviews about it.

Does it seem like a good, Christ-centered school?

How did the first year go?

Just looking for some general opions.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by 99percent

Sorry to bring up an old thread.

I am curious about this new catholic high school.

What does everyone think about John Paul the Great Catholic High School? Havent been able to find any reviews about it.

Does it seem like a good, Christ-centered school?

How did the first year go?

Just looking for some general opions.

Actually, they've just completed their second year and will begin the third year in FALL 2010. It's going fine. The incoming Freshman class for Fall 2010 is "full". My son will complete his freshman year next week. He likes it. There are about 120 kids in his class, about 100 in the class above him, and there are about 80 seniors. I'm not sure how many are in the incoming freshman class. They say it's full but I think the school is designed to have about 300 per class and I doubt they have that many but maybe they have as many as they can handle at this time.

I've been very please with the teachers and the attention my son has received. It's pretty much Christ-centered. More so than Paul VI was when my daughter attended (but PVI is much larger and I think it gets harder to do many things the more students you have). My son's math teacher is excellent and came from Thomas Jefferson after teaching there many years. The school will be adding second year Calculus which, I'm told, none of the PWC schools have. Many of the incoming freshman are in Algebra 2 already (from being homeschooled) and need to have the extra math available.

So, it seems they are on the right track.

If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer them.

[Yankeesfan]

It's an excellent school. I know people who work there and people who send their children there and they all love it. I've visited several times and the atmosphere is wonderful.

[99percent]

Thanks for your responses. Glad to see the school is doing well. Seems like a great school.

Just a couple final questions:

How are the students? Is there a good sense of community amoung them, the parents, and the fauculty? Are the students Christ-centered?

Also, this being a co-ed school, how are the realationships amoung the boy and girl students? Are they all just freinds, or are their alot of dating, boyfriend-girlfriend distractions?

Thanks in advance

[ChristineVA]

How are the students? Is there a good sense of community amoung them, the parents, and the fauculty? Are the students Christ-centered?

The students, for the most part, are your normal teenaged, high school students. I'm not sure what you mean by a "good sense of community among them" but I'll take that to mean do they like each other. Yes, I think so. As with any private school, the kids come from far-flung neighborhoods. One of my son's friends lives in Haymarket. I don't find there to be any big cliques or issues at this point because the school is so small. Sports are a big focus so if your child is in a sport they are going to have a good sense of community with that.

Many of the students are very religious and many are in the process of rebelling from that (as is normal in high school). I find the tone of the school to be, overall, more religious and Christ-centered than was my daughter's experience at Paul VI. But you see, the population at PVI is several times greater at JPG and once that happens to JPG, the "close-knit" environment and specialized things they offer will have to stop. But, being run by the nuns gives it a little more religious kick I think!

Also, this being a co-ed school, how are the realationships amoung the boy and girl students? Are they all just freinds, or are their alot of dating, boyfriend-girlfriend distractions?

Some of the kids are dating and I would say that the typical crushes and drama go on. For my son and the grades above him, it is on a much smaller scale than what we experienced at Paul VI; however, this will change for the incoming classes as they will be larger and will become more "normalized." Whether you like normalized or not is a different matter altogether. I don't find any of it distracting but I can only look at it from my son's point of view and another parent may have a different experience.

I will tell you that my daughter (who is now in college) went to public high school for a year and it was something else. I would say that it bordered on organized chaos. She chose to leave (even though she was having loads of fun) and go to Paul VI. I found Paul VI to be a nice balance between structure, discipline, and education with the social/fun aspects that I think teens need. The school did a good job of controlling their 1100 students, not allowing parents to take over the school, and letting the kids be normal high schoolers to some degree (dances, social activities, etc). Those things are important to me as well as the learning aspect.

My son's choice was to go to JPG because that's where he was comfortable. I really wanted him to go to Paul VI or Ireton even though JPG is tons more convenient. I will tell you that I don't care for "start up" schools nor do I care for overly religious schools deafened by the rotating blades of helicopter parents. I was very, very concerned about this but my son REALLY wanted to go. So far, so good. I do miss the organization of Paul VI and some of the social factors for my son. But he doesn't miss them so that's what matters. The parents, at times, can get a little too involved for my taste and there are days that I feel like I'm in middle school-extended. I think that will die out a bit as the school gets more crowded. I don't want to give specific examples but there have been a few incidents where I feel there was way too much parental presence when kids at that age should be able to experience parts of school as a high school group without mommy there. But maybe that's what you are looking for???

So that's my take on it!

[99percent]

Thank you VERY much for your help and input, Christine! You have been very helpful

[dod236]

Christine, my kids are only 4 & 2 so high school is far away I just wanted to commend you for taking the time to give someone such a detailed response. Wow! it's nice to see people with such great characters

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

The students, for the most part, are your normal teenaged, high school students. I'm not sure what you mean by a "good sense of community among them" but I'll take that to mean do they like each other. Yes, I think so. As with any private school, the kids come from far-flung neighborhoods. One of my son's friends lives in Haymarket. I don't find there to be any big cliques or issues at this point because the school is so small. Sports are a big focus so if your child is in a sport they are going to have a good sense of community with that.

Many of the students are very religious and many are in the process of rebelling from that (as is normal in high school). I find the tone of the school to be, overall, more religious and Christ-centered than was my daughter's experience at Paul VI. But you see, the population at PVI is several times greater at JPG and once that happens to JPG, the "close-knit" environment and specialized things they offer will have to stop. But, being run by the nuns gives it a little more religious kick I think!



Some of the kids are dating and I would say that the typical crushes and drama go on. For my son and the grades above him, it is on a much smaller scale than what we experienced at Paul VI; however, this will change for the incoming classes as they will be larger and will become more "normalized." Whether you like normalized or not is a different matter altogether. I don't find any of it distracting but I can only look at it from my son's point of view and another parent may have a different experience.

I will tell you that my daughter (who is now in college) went to public high school for a year and it was something else. I would say that it bordered on organized chaos. She chose to leave (even though she was having loads of fun) and go to Paul VI. I found Paul VI to be a nice balance between structure, discipline, and education with the social/fun aspects that I think teens need. The school did a good job of controlling their 1100 students, not allowing parents to take over the school, and letting the kids be normal high schoolers to some degree (dances, social activities, etc). Those things are important to me as well as the learning aspect.

My son's choice was to go to JPG because that's where he was comfortable. I really wanted him to go to Paul VI or Ireton even though JPG is tons more convenient. I will tell you that I don't care for "start up" schools nor do I care for overly religious schools deafened by the rotating blades of helicopter parents. I was very, very concerned about this but my son REALLY wanted to go. So far, so good. I do miss the organization of Paul VI and some of the social factors for my son. But he doesn't miss them so that's what matters. The parents, at times, can get a little too involved for my taste and there are days that I feel like I'm in middle school-extended. I think that will die out a bit as the school gets more crowded. I don't want to give specific examples but there have been a few incidents where I feel there was way too much parental presence when kids at that age should be able to experience parts of school as a high school group without mommy there. But maybe that's what you are looking for???

So that's my take on it!

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by dod236

Christine, my kids are only 4 & 2 so high school is far away I just wanted to commend you for taking the time to give someone such a detailed response. Wow! it's nice to see people with such great characters

Thank you!

Seems like only yesterday when mine were that young. The time really does fly by and the high school decision will be right in front of you.