Hold onto your seat. This might be a long post. For a long time now people have been asking me to post about the schools in the area of Cheverly. Where do Cheverly kids go to school? I’m glad you asked.  Let me start out by saying that there is even a book about where you should/could send your kids to school in our region. A BOOK ABOUT IT. Are we all TYPE A or what?! I mean, when I was growing up in Oklahoma City, we went to public school and there was no thought about going to another school. There was no choice. The parents didn’t fret about it. They didn’t lose one minute of sleep wondering where their kids were going to go to school. Not in DC my friends. Not here. This is a regular topic of conversation in every mom group that I’ve been a part of. And there is a book about it: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Private-Schools-Washington-Northern/dp/1491706511

Back to Cheverly…There are plenty of great options. If your child attends these schools that I mention below, feel free to comment or post below on your thoughts. If I’m missing any school, please let me know. Today I will be discussing elementary school options and schools with options for K-8. We have one public school option IN our neighborhood: Gladys Noon Spellman. Many children start this school and many test out for the TAG program which busses students to another school for the TAG classroom. There is also a lottery option for public schools with 3 excellent schools available:

Judith P. Hoyer Montessori, Dora Kennedy French Immersion, and Cesar Chavez Spanish Immersion.

There are a number of great private school options available to families including a Catholic school in the neighborhood, St. Ambrose. Tuition for a non-Catholic family is 8K with discounts available for more than one child. Some other great options are:

Christian Friends Montessori, St. Jeromes Academy and Friends Community School. Friends is 19K per year, St. Jerome’s for a non-Catholic family is 9K plus sibling discounts available, and CFM is 8K.

Where do my lovely children attend ? (see pic below of my little one on his first day of Kindergarten) They go to St. Jerome’s Academy and I am thrilled about the education they are receiving.   Here are some articles about the school’s classical Catholic education: https://www.hyattsvillewire.com/2014/04/09/hyattsvilles-catholic-community-gets-noticed/

https://www.npr.org/2017/04/10/522714982/catholics-build-intentional-community-of-like-minded-believers

Cheverly is a perfect place for home schoolers. We have many children that are home schooled in Cheverly and nearby groups that meet such as Capitol Hill Learning Group and Classical Conversations.

As you can see, there are many diverse options for families that choose to live in Cheverly. I have to say that most of my friends in the DC area choose private over public- and their private school fees are much higher than the prices we pay in our area. In an article entitled “The Private School Option” in the Arlington Magazine I read:

Annual tuitions can range anywhere from $6,300 at a parochial school like St. Thomas More Cathedral School in Arlington, to $37,000 at The Potomac School or Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.

Families that opt to go private are essentially paying twice, insofar as they already pay taxes that support public education. This year, Arlington County will spend $19,040 per student enrolled in its schools, according to data reported to the Washington Area Boards of Educators (WABE), while  Falls Church City will pay $17,109 and Fairfax County will pay $13,519 per student.

Though most private schools offer financial aid, many area families find themselves stuck in the middle—not poor enough to qualify for aid, but not wealthy enough to simply write a check.
“We’re hijacking our entire retirement to send [our kids] to elementary school,” says Karen*, an Arlington mom whose three children attend Burgundy Farm Country Day School, a private, pre-K–8 school in Alexandria.

So higher home prices PLUS a private school education is what I can crazy–esp when you can choose a neighborhood like Cheverly. Ok, more on the school issues to come.