Washington Jesuit Academy

Karen first heard about the Washington Jesuit Academy from a colleague who told her that they would prepare her 5^th grade son Blair for high school.  She wanted Blair to attend private school, both for the academic rigor and the focus on character, but knew she could not afford it.  At first she was nervous about WJA, especially its 12-hour school day.  “I didn’t know what to expect,” Karen says.  “I had never been involved with a long school day or Catholic education at all.  But I decided to play it by ear.” 

Blair was less convinced, and fought his mother for the first eight months of 6^th grade.  He complained about school uniforms.  He complained about the fact that WJA is all boys.  He lied about a school retreat so he wouldn’t have to go.  Every night, Karen had to convince him to wake up the next morning and go back to school. 

“I was convinced that WJA was the best thing for him, and I was not going to back down,” Karen recalls. 

Eventually Blair settled down.  He started to get on the Honor Roll.  He went on a retreat and loved it.  He started to respect and like his teachers.  By the time he graduated from WJA, he was his class’ valedictorian and had earned a scholarship to an elite college prep high school.  “He was well prepared for high school, especially because WJA had final exams.  Many of his classmates had never taken a final exam in middle school.” 

Blair now attends Georgetown University.  He credits WJA – and his mother – for getting him there. 

“He said to me recently, ‘When I have kids, I don’t think I will be strong enough to fight with them for as long as you fought with me to make me go to WJA.  But it was the right thing to do.  Thank you.’”