J T Barber Elementary

Bridgeton is one of the best schools around for special needs and every child is treated like family.

Writing this review has leaned heavily on my heart, but I am compelled to share so other families will not be subjected to what our family went through at St. Paul. While we found most of the teachers at St. Paul to be solid educators, good people, and committed to their students, turnover at the school is high, educators are often frustrated with the school's administration, and the school's achievement in standardized testing is low for a private, small school. What's more, the school's religious teaching focuses on draconian, ultra orthodox teaching rather than helping young people develop relationships based on scripture and the Great Commandments. The middle school is not prepared to handle the emotional and social issues that arise in those grades, particularly after the pandemic. Many students are on opportunity scholarships, come from broken homes, or are being raised by grandparents. There is lacking emotional or mental health support for more challenging situations. Our child was not a disciplinary problem at school, but cruelty and bullying among the students was rampant; discipline and punishment for such behaviors was often uneven, arbitrary, or nonexistent. Again, the school was much more concerned with dress code rather than the social development of responsible, kind young people. Some athletics were more unimpressive than others. An example: one coach plays their own child for every single game, denying other promising players an opportunity to rise to a higher level. Very few families from originally from Eastern North Carolina today send their children to St. Paul. The school pulls in families who have moved from other states, who do not know, and who and want a private education with inexpensive tuition. Many, many local families have pulled their children from the school for other schools, for the same reasons I cite above. By its location, the school should be filled with families from Trent Woods to downtown, native and non-native. But it's not. And it's a shame. The school has so much potential to be a garden of learning and virtue. But be warned, it is not a consistent educational environment and certainly not a place of emotional wellbeing.