Alternate Education: Catholic School Starts Redistricting Outreach

For parents unhappy with the latest revisions to the , there are alternatives.

This is the message that St. John the Evangelist School principal Jean Delcher is sending out in letters to Harford County parents affected by the redistricting.

“They do have a choice,” she told Patch. “We’re here and a lot of people don’t even know we’re here.”

“We’re not saying anything bad against public schools,” she added.

St. John’s is a kindergarten through eighth grade school located near the Baltimore and Harford County line in Hydes and is part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Catholic school system.

According to Delcher, standardized test scores for the school are in the top 25 percent of the nation and 99 percent of their eighth graders go to Catholic high schools and are accepted into their first choice.

“I don’t think people think of Catholic schools as academic, but I think we are and I think we need to start shouting it,” she said.

The school is also faith-based and incorporates “service to the community” as part of the curriculum, Delcher added.

St. John’s also has small class sizes, two levels of math and language arts, traditional classes such as physical education and music, smart boards installed in classrooms and a new computer lab. 

“We have a good school here that has been unnoticed for a while,” Delcher said.

Though Delcher is getting the word out about St. John’s, some Harford County parents would prefer their children stay in the public system, such as Fallston resident Kristin Kuehn.

Under the current draft, , where they currently go.

“I have a second grader and then I also have a 4-year-old so I’m looking at two kids who have to go through the elementary school process,” Kuehn said. “So I’m more inclined to stay with the public school system.”

Kuehn did say, however, that people like her neighbor are considering the move.

“For me personally, I’m not ready to make the switch but I know others that are,” she said.

Those Harford County parents who are interested in St. John’s can attend a special open house at the school on March 8 from 9 to 11 a.m.

“We are an alternative," Delcher said, "and maybe you never thought about us before."