[dougnaie]

We are interested in enrolling our daughter in Catholic elementary school when we relocate. I do understand that the public schools in the area we are looking to move to are certainly better than what we are used to here in CA, however we prefer a parochial education for a variety of reasons.

While St. John in Old Saybrook would be the closest for us, I have no problem driving a distance as I am already doing that here in CA anyway. Because you all have been so helpful in providing insights to all my other questions, I am hoping that this will be another topic that you are willing to offer guidance on as well. I would love first hand knowledge of the following schools, however any and all information is helpful and MOST appreciated!

St. John's - Old Saybrook
St. John's - Middletown
St. Sebastian - Middletown
St. Mary School - Middletown
Our Lady of Mercy - Madison

I have toured Our Lady of Mercy, but it was several years ago. I have seen the campus of St. John in Old Saybrook and attended Mass at the church, but that has been my only exposure. The others, I have absolutely no frame of reference. If I have left anything off the list, please let me know!

Thanks, everyone.

Aileen

[kristin1]

Thanks for starting this thread - I could use this info too!

I visited St. John's in Old Saybrook last week, and it looked like it had great facilities. Also very safe - a security guard stopped us the minute we walked in the door. We ran into a teacher who had a lot of great things to say about the programs there on the way to the office.

However, when we got to the office, the only one available to talk to us was a rather crusty old secretary, who instructed us to come visit during the open house in February. Since where we chose to live will be largely based on the schools, I was pretty annoyed by this. She told us we HAD to wait until February to see the classrooms.

Some info we rather painfully gleaned from her - the school is almost always at capacity and there are usually waiting lists for a few grades. I wanted to start my son in the first grade since they only offer full day kindergarten, and was told that I needed to have him in the 4 year old preschool program (also fullday) in order to secure a spot in the kindergarten and then first grade.

Also, they do not bus from many areas, so you would need to figure out transportation on your own, depending wher you live.

We will probably try to get my son in the first grade there if we can (he is only 3 now) but we may have to use the local elementary school if there is no room. I just can't see signing a 4 year old up for a full day program if I don't need it for daycare.

I will almost definietly use parochial school for HS for my kids - I'm told Mercy and Xavier are both very good. We are planning to attend the open house at Mercy this month, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Do you mind me asking where you will be relocating?

Good Luck!

[dougnaie]

We are relocating to Lyme/ Essex in June '08. My husband works in Stamford and New Haven, so currently we are bicoastal, which is not even remotely appealing. We have a daughter in Catholic boarding school in Rhode Island - Portsmouth Abbey. We hope to have our younger daughter there in in '11 as well if she can get in. In the meantime, and as a good prep school prep, we need a good solid Catholic high school. When I looked at Our Lady of Mercy several years ago, I was really impressed. I do not mind the drive particularly, but would prefer a school closer to facilitate after school playdates and the like. The lack of a school bus is not bothersome either, as we do not have one in CA anyway. I guess if I am going to visit St. John, maybe an appointment would facilitate the process. I do think that in this day and age, a school needs to be solicitous of prospective families much like a business is of a customer. Hopefully together we will be able to get the scoop as to what is available in local parochial schools.

[yankee.peddler]

Many Catholic primary schools tend to lose a couple of students in the later grades, especially between Grades 5-8. If all slots in the lower grades are full, you might want to consider initially enrolling your children in a public school until a slot becomes available in the Catholic school. All of the towns in lower Middlesex County provide high quality public elementary education.

Mercy and Xavier are both excellent high schools.

[mbmouse]

I had two cousins that went to Xavier and knew several people who attended there or Mercy and they got a GREAT education. They all went on to college, did very well and all have high paying careers. I went to public in Middlesex Co. (granted this was YEARS ago) but rather wish I went to Mercy. Granted, I turned out just fine and have a good career myself, I just think Mercy would have made it a bit easier with my later years education. Just my 2 cents.

[dougnaie]

Thanks for the high school positives...I appreciate your input. I am hoping that because I have a 5th grader, I can get some feedback on the schools listed in my OP. It is so hard to do this from a distance - you all are a huge help! Thanks so much.

[wanderintonc]

Are you planning to live in Old Saybrook? If so, the schools in Middletown aren't exactly close. It'd be quite a daily haul, especially in winter. If you chose to live right in Middletown, your kids would get free bussing to any of the Catholic schools, and Fellowship Baptist school too.

St Johns, in Middletown, is the Irish church, St. Marys is Polish, and St. Sebastians is Italian. I'm sure all the students are a variety of backrounds, I'm just letting you know the parish backrounds.

[dougnaie]

We will be living in Lyme or Essex. Thank you for the background info on the parishes...that is helpful information. I feel like I am sort of shopping with a blindfold on! I know that a drive to Middletown would be a long one. What do you think about the commute to Madison for Our Lady of Mercy? It is not that I am against St. John in Old Saybrook, I just usually like to investigate several options. Thanks again for responding.

[wanderintonc]

I'm not sure about the commute to Madison-I live in Middletown myself, so I don't get down the shoreline very often.

[FireOnHigh]

I used to go to Saint Mary's in Simsbury, it's a very good school.