Shirley Avenue Elementary School

My daughter attended this school for two years. Coming from a public school it was a completely new environment in the most positive way. Small class size, caring teachers,wonderful staff and a true community feel. St. Martins really prepared her for high school. My daughter is now excelling in difficult honors and AP classes. Couldn't ask for a better place to send your children.

Our child has been attending preschool here, though only because our resident school (LAUSD assigned school) is a very low-performing, bottom-of-the-barrel type school and we are still playing the lottery for the better charter schools in our area. I have to say that nearly all the preschool teachers, are warm, welcoming, and seem to truly enjoy what they do. The grounds are very secure and there are always private security guards waling the grounds, the school is well organized and drop-off/pick-up, even if super busy, is always very smooth. However, as some reviewers have noted, the school is very expensive and all afterschool enrichment classes you have to pay for (though this is true for public schools as well). All private preschools in the same tuition range offer an 8AM-5PM/5:30PM day, but this school has decided that their cut off is 3:00PM and if you want extended hours you have to pay an additional fee. I also find it odd that the parents have to contribute $200+ (as of 2023) per child each year towards a gift fund for the child's teachers and the principle. It seems like we are bribing them with gifts to guarantee that they are "kind" to our children. However, my bigger issue is the lack of rigorous academic curriculum AND blatant discrimination against children with a disability. As another reviewer noted, they adhere to the CA standards (because they have to) and that's it. History is thought through a Western and colonial lens, indigenous peoples and their achievements are largely ignored; world history focuses on the West and Asia, starting around 8000 BC, so hundreds of thousands of years of human history are not even touched on and Africa (minus Egypt) get left out of World History. And this is what I got from a short conversation with the curriculum development director. As someone who teaches at a Tier 1 research university in the US, their academic shortcomings and prejudice are obvious; not a place where I would allow my children to continue their education.

We like the small class size and school yard and flexible learning approaches