Oak Park

Children were able to make friends really fast their first year. They are giving great opportunities to learn about many things. Also, there is a good push to stay off of tablets unless required, love that!

I've gotta say, I enjoyed this school for the first 4-5 years that I went here. But by the time I entered 6th grade, this school began to show its true colors. It started with my realization of how little I learned during that time. I can only recall learning two or three things and only taking 4-5 tests per class throughout the whole school year. I do, however, have distinct memories of an out of control grade and teachers who didn't care what they did. In my middle school years, I was shocked at what I found about my school. I entered 7th grade hoping for a better year, only to have those hopes annihilated by my homeroom teacher. This teacher bullied me and harassed me to the point where I had extreme anxiety about being around them and talking to them. Not to mention the tremendous workload that this teacher threw onto the backs of new middle schoolers (Literally homework every single day, even on testing days). The only positive parts of my day were recess, lunch, and either social studies or science, depending on the day. Only 2 of 5 teacher cared a little bit about the students. One teacher tried to relate to the students by being loud, funny, and using slang. I really only noticed the aggressive, loud part of this approach, and I had nothing but problems with this teacher. One teacher was to laid back and focused on their subject that no one had an opportunity to connect with them. The other two teachers were kind, funny, and cared tremendously about their students. The next thing I came to realize was the extremely weak support for the special needs children, gifted and needs-extra-help. I had three or four friends with learning disorders who left the school or had trouble with the school because of their problems. When they would act up, the teachers wouldn't send them to the counselor, or nurse, or simply talk to them. They would just send them to the principals office. I also had a friend who had a gifted IEP and the school didn't pay attention to it at all. Lastly, the administration is just crummy. That's pretty much all I can say. The principal doesn't seem care about the students and one of the receptionists is extremely snotty and rude to all of the students. I know many families who have had many problems with the principal and her incapability to help anyone but herself. So overall, I give this school a one out of five stars because of my last two, terrible years at Holy Spirit Catholic School.