Who We Are

  • Our students consistently score far above national averages on standardized tests.

  • Our class sizes are limited, providing an intimate learning environment.

  • Our teachers are state-certified and have an average of 10 years of teaching experience.

  • 20% have earned master’s degrees in education.

  • Good Counsel’s School Board ensures the stability of our school by meeting monthly to review academic objectives and strategies, discuss financial and facility concerns, craft marketing objectives, and maintain the school’s strong Catholic Identity.

  • Good Counsel, and all schools in the Trenton Diocese, are accredited by the COGNIA.

  • Opportunities for financial aid are available. This has closed for the 2023-2024 school year. Bishop David O’Connell has made this a priority in the Diocese of Trenton. Notice will be posted when this reopens for the 2024-2025 school year.

  • Please navigate our site to learn about our admissions process, academics, including K-8 curriculum, PTA Fundraisers, Athletic Teams & Clubs.

For more information about our school or to arrange a tour, contact us at 856-235-7885 or email SCHOOL@OLGC.me

Click here for information on tuition.  How we use your tuition dollars.

Our Mission

The mission of Our Lady of School Counsel Parish School is to form students in the image of Jesus Christ.

In keeping with our mission, the faculty and staff are committed to fostering the development of certain core values in our students to help them become responsible, caring individuals. Christ is the model and center of our school. Christian values are taught, modeled, and lived by all members of the school community, especially our teachers.

Our History

Our Lady of Good Counsel School opened in 1927 during the pastorate of Father James F. Hendricks. There were four classrooms and an auditorium with an enrollment of 180 students for eight grade levels.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, agreed to staff the school. Since that time, Our Lady of Good Counsel School has expanded and flourished because of the hard work and commitment of our community.

Between 1950 and 1960, enrollment increased dramatically and the first lay teachers joined the faculty. In 1962, while Father Michael F. O’Keefe was Pastor, a new addition to Our Lady of Good Counsel School was completed, furnishing the school with two classes per grade level. The faculty was increased to 10 Sisters of St. Joseph and six lay teachers.

In June 1986, the Sisters of St. Joseph withdrew from Our Lady of Good Counsel School, recognizing the need to reduce their corporate commitments because the community had aged and the number of vocations declined. After the departure of the religious sisters, Monsignor James J. McGovern, then Pastor, appointed Sister Michael Vincent Dailey, O.P., principal in September 1985. Sister Michael led our school for almost 15 years before retiring.

Jerome T. McGowan was hired to oversee Good Counsel School in September 2000. Mr McGowan served as Principal for 13 years and recently retired in June 2013.  After Mr. McGowan’s retirement in 2013 Dr. Frank McAneny became our principal from July of that year to June of 2016. Dr. McAneny was responsible for helping our school, faculty, and students achieve one of the highest honors in education: becoming a Blue Ribbon School, in 2015. Dr. Carla Chiarelli followed Dr. McAneny in July 2016. Our current principal, Mrs. Cynthia Smith, began serving our school in August 2022.

Our pastor is Father Jim Grogan, who began as pastor in July 2022.

Today, as a Blue Ribbon School and an AdvancED Accredited school, we have a healthy enrollment  in Prek-3 through 8th grade. Our faculty is a committed and stable presence, providing Our Lady of Good Counsel School with a religious and caring atmosphere as well as academic excellence.

“I think one of the unique aspects of Catholic school education is the opportunity to care for the material and intellectual needs of the child in a community atmosphere.”
— Mark Foley

Guiding Principles of Our Lady of Good Counsel

As a Catholic Elementary school in the Diocese of Trenton, we strive to ensure the success for all students in the 21st Century global world based on the principles of Catholic doctrine and the living tradition of the Church. Our Lady of Good Counsel School promotes a Christ-centered environment that fosters the total formation of each child. The school, in concert with parents, prepares students to develop leadership skills to meet global challenges and to be of service to others.

Catholic formation is the hallmark of Catholic education. As such, the philosophy of OLGC is founded on the four principles of Gospel, Message, Community, and Service, as proclaimed by the pastoral message of the Bishops in the document, “To Teach as Jesus Did”. Based on these principles, the members of the administration, faculty, staff, clergy, and parents are committed to teach the whole child with love, understanding, and compassion.

Our Lady of Good Counsel School’s administration, faculty, and staff are committed to academic excellence and to teaching tolerance and social justice principles to students and the school community. In order to evangelize Christ’s message and educate the students to become the hands and feet of Christ, an attitude of service permeates every aspect of school life.

Catholic education is Christian value-centered and teaches students by guiding them to share their God-given talents, treasure, and time with their neighbors in a spirit of friendliness while respecting the diversity within the community and promoting Gospel values.

In keeping with Vatican II, Our Lady of Good Counsel School aims to cultivate the mind, develop the capacity for right judgment and develop in our students a strong sense of relationship with Christ. We are committed to promoting a love of learning in order to prepare students as life-long learners and stewards of this world.

In these challenging times, our school calls together parents and all stakeholders to stand firm and work diligently to develop both the strong Catholic identity of the school and the excellence in academics that will prepare students to meet the challenges of the global world in the 21st Century.

School Board

School Board Members

  • Father Jim Grogan, Sr., Pastor

  • Mrs. Cynthia Smith, Principal

  • Mr. Brian Kasilowski, Vice Principal

  • Mrs. Alycia Bischof

  • Mrs. Amanda Brown (PTA)

  • Mrs. Barbara Burnham (Teacher)

  • Mrs. Maria Johnson

  • Mrs. Kelsey Mesveskas

  • Mr. John B. Comegno II, Esquire / Comegno Law Group, P.C. - General Counsel to OLGC

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The school board of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish School meets monthly to be sure that the school is planning for its future.  This includes admissions, advancement, marketing, and finance. 

The board consists of nine voting members who serve three-year terms and have a wide range of professional experience in the fields of academics, finance, law, business, and administration.

Each are parishioners or staff invited to serve at the request of our pastor, Fr. Jim Grogan.

Father Jim oversees the school board, which was created in 2008.

Our Lady of Good Counsel Strategic Plan

With over a 90-year history steeped in tradition, Our Lady of Good Counsel School (OLGC), has been educating and preparing students for the rigors of high school, as well as for leading fulfilling and productive lives as Catholics. We are committed to continuing our legacy of success in forming our students into tomorrow’s leaders and followers of Christ. Today’s OLGC students represent the future of our Catholic faith, and through imparting their knowledge, skills, values, and faith, they will become instruments for change for a more just and humane world.

To ensure our school’s future vitality and strength going forward, our strategic planning team has evaluated our internal and external environment, identified opportunities and challenges, and established our school’s most important priorities. The planning team is comprised of the standing strategic planning committee along with eight other committees which focused on core strategic areas. Together, they established a formal strategic plan that reinforces our mission, vision, and guiding principles.

With a long-term strategic focus, we will be well poised to continue to provide an excellent academic Catholic education with a solid, comprehensive curriculum for high school preparation, including foreign language, fine arts, and religion, as well as extracurricular programs that promote teamwork, leadership, social development, and physical well-being. We will prepare students with the skills necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st Century and for leadership in a global world.

Our Lady of Good Counsel School’s strategic plan establishes a clear direction for the course of the school during the next five years. This strategic plan represents the collaboration of many individuals, including school administrators, pastors and clergy, faculty, staff, board members, parents, students, and leaders in academia and business. By sharing their expertise and time, they were instrumental in shaping the roadmap for OLGC’s future.

The strategic plan outlines OLGC’s goals and objectives for the school’s improvement and advancement. We wholeheartedly dedicate ourselves to the continued evangelization and education of our Catholic youth. We will monitor, measure, and report on the achievement of the action plan quarterly beginning in the 2020-2021 school year.