St. Jerome Academy

We put our 3 children in the school this year, and what a wonderful experience it has been. The faculty and staff and very welcoming and committed to educating the whole person. Because of the classical curriculum, my kids have gained so much knowledge and have applied this to their home life.
--Submitted by a parent

My child is going to St Jerome's and I am highly disappointed in the school as a parent. I don't feel my child is being challanged at all. He comes home with not a lot of homework. Also, I don't see this "Classical Education" taking place. I am sorry we let our child go to this school.
--Submitted by a parent

All four of our kids have attended St. Jerome's (we now have two graduates). We love the wholesome environment and the new curriculum is terrific. It and some terrific new hires made an immediate and dramatic improvement in the upper school, and are steadily improving the lower school year by year. A very good school, and well on its way to being a superb one.
--Submitted by a parent

We looked at many Catholic schools in the DC area and happily settled on St. Jerome. The community is great, the curriculum is very exciting and the principal is outstanding. This school is only getting better.
--Submitted by a parent

We have our child in kindergarten. I'm giving the school a 5 star rating because the teachers and principal are superb. They are an inquisitive faith-filled group of people. Both the academic and spiritual education are impressive. We made the switch (from a public pre-kindergarten program) because of the curriculum and are happy with our decision.
--Submitted by a parent

We have three children who currently attend St. Jerome Academy. The reason we decided to enroll our children in St. Jerome's was due to its beautiful classical curriculum, the hiring of many superb teachers, and the intense dedication of the administration in the care of their students. We have witnessed the good character and loving attitudes of its diverse student body as well as dedication to the classical curriculum by the staff. Our children are reading works from the great thinkers, reciting poetry, learning Latin, and studying a Christ-centered history. The school has truly been a blessing to our family.
--Submitted by a parent

My son entered this school from public school. After a rough first quarter, I am very pleased to say that he has really pushed himself in the right direction. The dedication of his teacher is incredible. The amount of information that he has learned in unbelievable. I made the right decision and won't be changing - God willing anytime soon.
--Submitted by a parent

Terrible, terrible school. I went here from grade 1 to grade 8, and all of the good teachers have left or been fired. They have a large amount of work that goes into their propaganda to make sure people think that it's an excellent school, but their has been *no* implementation of the classical curriculum plan in the upper school at least. DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAY. F-, St. Jerome. Extremely pretentious attitudes from all involved as well.

My son went to St Jerome Child center last year and is now in Pre-K in the "big school". In addition, I switched my daughter to St J from public school, she is in 6th grade. School has only been in session for a couple weeks, but I am definitely very impressed. I do have concerns about the "fees" the school charges. The worst one being the "book fee/student fee" combo of $285 per kid. Even in Pre-K, my 4 yr old is charged a $285 book fee! What books? I find this absurd! There was also a $150 registration fee per student, and a $45 registration fee to use their online payment system. In addition, I just received info on joining the band. My daughter is begging to join, but its $730/yr, plus $25 registration fee, plus the cost of the instrument. Insane! Not only that, but I also just found out that in 6th grade there is NO music class. So if I don't sign her up for band, then she will have no music education this year whatsoever. I think that's awful. I am very aware that this school was broke a couple years ago, and I really think that since they changed their education plan and got more enrollment, they're trying to make as much money as they possibly can!
--Submitted by a parent

We enrolled our three children at St. Jerome this academic year, the first after it switched to a classical educational program. A committee of volunteer experts wrote the new curriculum, which is now in the process of being implemented in other schools and even several entire dioceses. The Washington Post recently published a very positive article about the school. Eight new teachers were hired -- all of them outstanding and very enthusiastic about the classical curriculum. The teachers who remained from the previous program are also excellent and highly engaged. We've been delighted at how well the transition has gone this first year. All three of our kids are doing well, even though they came from a much different educational environment (a small, parent-run school) and one of them has special needs. They are learning material that seems well beyond grade level and are assimilating it well. Our first grader knows the Greek myths and can proofread a paragraph; our fourth grader discusses Plato's Republic; our seventh grader excels at Latin and directs plays based on The Canterbury Tales. An amazing school and unlike any other Catholic school in the Washington area!
--Submitted by a parent