ANyone have kids at Bishop O'Connell or Bishop Ireton high schools? (Arlington: to rent, townhouse)

[volleyball1]

We are moving to the NOVA and trying to decide which elementary and high school to get our kids in. This will determine the area we look for a home. My husband will be at the Pentagon and would love in information you have!

[Yankeesfan]

My children have attended Ireton, it is excellent. There is a third Catholic high school, Paul VI in Fairfax. Despite their mostly-in-fun rivalries, all three are very good schools. How old are your children now? Here is a website you can check out.

Arlington Diocese: Office of Catholic Schools (OCS) (http://www.arlingtondiocese.org/offices/schools/ - broken link)

[volleyball1]

They are in 7th and 5th now, so I will need to find a good feeder school. We will be moving in May. Any recommendations? Thanks for answering!

[claremarie]

There really aren't any "feeder" schools for the three diocesan high schools. Most students at O'Connell come from the local parish elementary schools, but some come from DC and more than a few come from public or secular private schools. I don't know about the other two, but O'Connell has more applications than slots, so admission is not a sure thing.

[volleyball1]

Thanks, I didn't realize that. I am having a difficult time trying to narrow down where to send the kids to K-8 and then switching the following year high school. It sounds like where you live is critical with regards to commutes. Is North Arlington or Alexandria a better place with more options for us? Vienna was recommended too.

[volleyball1]

What about Mclean? Are all of the parish schools in the area comparable? Our daughter plays club volleyball and there are several clubs in that area. I just don't know what we can get for around $3000 a month in rent. Thank you Claremarie for all of your information! It is so helpful.

[Yankeesfan]

If your children are in Catholic schools and have respectable grades, you shouldn't need to worry much about high school admissions. Don't brush it off, but don't become overly anxious about it if their grades are good (As and Bs). Ireton admits fewer students because it's a smaller school than the other two. They all accept some public school students and some students from other non-Catholic private schools, but Catholic school students get priority unless they have some kind of discipline problems or marginal grades. I don't know the numbers but I have heard of a lot of parents who feel fine about their local public elementary schools but get anxious about public high school so they try to get into a Catholic high school. That isn't the best strategy because most of the slots (justifiably) are filled with kids from Catholic schools.

[claremarie]

North Arlington and McLean are both great locations for commuting to downtown DC, Tyson's, and O'Connell. I know that our parish (St. John's in McLean) regularly sends a number of students to O'Connell, and there are generally openings in the upper grades (5th-8th). If you are not Catholic, the tuition at all diocesan schools is considerably higher, and, as someone else pointed out, you are lower in the admissions priority. The public schools in North Arlington and the McLean area are all excellent, so you do NOT need to send your child to O'Connell to avoid mediocre public schools. Some non-Catholic families prefer O'Connell because it is smaller than most of the public high schools, and they believe that their kids will get more individual attention.
I have boys, so don't know much about volleyball, but several neighbors have daughters who play on the McLean High School team as well as a club team. You might want to check into the program at O'Connell -- some of their teams, such as softball and basketball, are very intense and it can be harder for average players to earn a spot because, unlike the area public schools, O'Connell can attract strong players from a larger geographic area.

[volleyball1]

First of all, thank you for this info! We are Catholic and since we move around every 2-3 years our kids really want to continue at Catholic schools. I think they feel more secure on the first day in a new place wearing the uniforms, knowing that discipline is expected and that the academics will be strong. They are both good ( A-B) students. I worry about my daughter more than my son because moving in your eighth grade year can be tough for girls. She is 5'11 also, so fitting in is right away is important her since she stands out enough already! That is why I asked about club volleyball. I can find out more on that later. The schools and where to live are my main focus now! She also loves music theatre and likes to be in plays, etc. so that is why O'Connell seemed like a great fit for her.

St. John's in McLean does look like a good school. Is it hard to find nice homes to rent there that aren't astronomical?

I also am a yoga instructor and would love to work at a nice health club somewhere near where we live or the school. We are thinking of maybe a big townhouse in N Arlington or a house in the areas that his commute to the Pentagon will not be too long. What would you recommend? Do you know anything about the Catholic elementaries in Arlington? I think the Cathedral of St. Thomas More is one I looked at.

This is so incredibly helpful to me! We know lots of people there but none with kids in Catholic schools so this makes narrowing things down much easier!

[Ranger Vic]

Arlington and Mclean are nice. Have you looked at Vienna. When we first came to the area we, my wife and I, had the same questions you do. She was at Walter Reed and i was going to be switching between Ft McNair, Ft Myer, and Ft Belvior. Vienna was centrally located to all posts. There are two good catholic school, OLGC (K-8)and St. Marks (K-8). You really don't want to live in a townhouse with children that age, we tried that. We have an 8th grader and 6th grader boty active in sports and church is right around the corner. The travel from vienna to pentagon is not bad because the Metro goes right to the Pentagon and as early as most of us have to be at the Pentagon the drive is 20-25 minutes before 0630.