St. John Paul II Catholic School

Preschool to 5th grade was great years at a great school, the last couple years have been tough and we are glad to be moving on

My children are thriving at this school. The school has effective ways to teach all levels of students. They have a wonderful athletic programs and academic clubs too. The drama club is first rate. My children have great respect for their teachers and have formed friendships that will continue for years.

This school is a place of learning and hope for the future. God lives in the hallways and students are challenged and respected. Teachers go the extra mile and the staff has little turnover. Even though administration changes have been many, the teaching staff is the true rudder of the school.

This is a wonderful great and growing faith-based school! They are willing to work with children of various abilities and circumstances! I have 2 children attending the school who have thrived. The staff is fantastic in communicating and the administration is working to accommodate the growth of the the school by preparing for expansion! The staff works hard to apply the principles of Catholic Social Teaching in helping all students reach their potential!

This is our 3rd year at SJP. The first 2 years we were very pleased. This school year has seen a change in that they have received a new principal. I was extremely surprised at how the entire organization seemed to stumble at the loss of the previous principal. I am also extremely disappointed at the behavior of the new one. Whereas the old principal used to greet each family by name in the morning, the new one is more interested in moving cars quickly through the car line. He actually stands at the end and waves his arms for the next car to come on through. I have no doubt that his time in the morning could be better spent. He misses most after school and extracurricular functions (movie nights, plays, etc) because he maintains a home several hours away from the area and 'needs to be with his family'. When he is present at a function, like he was at the recent Xmas performance, he makes no effort to introduce himself or speak with parents. When the event was over, he seemed more interested in putting away the chairs than meeting or speaking to his customers. If you missed the parent night at the beginning of the year you would have no idea of who this person is. Last year I would have, without reservation, left a 5 star review. This year I feel I am being charitable with a 3 star. In addition, we regularly receive emails from either the PTO or from our child's teacher the evening before an event is to occur. These often come in between 8-11pm. In our household, emails received from the PTO that are sent at 11 pm are going to be read the next morning, if not the next afternoon. In the case I'm speaking of, that would have been too late. Also, this year they are going to fine the families that haven't worked all of their volunteer hours on April 15th, as opposed to waiting until the end of the year.The volunteer hours are something that has come and gone in my time here. It was present the first year (at something like $50/hr), then gone, and now back at $10/hr. Like other policies and procedures at this school, they change on a whim. When the current principal feels he has padded his resume enough and decides to leave, I'm sure the next one will bring another wholesale change of policy. 2 years ago, we sent our child to SJP because we felt it was a better alternative to public school. Now I can only say that it is just 'not public school'.